james bond rpg - from russia with love

An Adventurefor 1 to 4 PlayersPLUS Gamesmaster

For play with theJames Bond 007 Game

For Ages 12 to Adult

Victory Games Inc

VICTORY GAMES, INC., New York, NY 10001©Danjaq S.A. (1961)©Eon Productions Limited / Glidrose Publications Limited (2003)

Important Noticeto Playtest Volunteers

This pre-release layout of the "From RussiaWith Love" adventure module is provided under the condition that you do not distributeits contents, in part or in full, to anyone otherthan approved playtest volunteers.

The layout includes the complete contentsof the Game Book, Screen and Handouts forthe Adventure. Where final artwork is currentlyunavailable, photographs from the moviehave been substituted in this version (exceptfor the box front and back which remain asart-free mockups).

Remember to provide your playtest feedbackto us before 5PM EST, 19 December 2003. Andremember to keep a lookout for the finishedproduct in 2004!

Victory Games Inc

An Adventure Modulefor the James Bond 007 Game

CREATED AND PUBLISHED BY VICTORY GAMES, INC.

VICTORY GAMES, INC., New York, NY 10001

ADVENTURE DESIGN

ADVENTURE EDITOR

ADVENTURE DEVELOPMENT

©Danjaq S.A. (1961)©Eon Productions Limited / Glidrose Publications Limited (2003)

Gamesmaster Guide

2 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE ADVENTURE MODULE

Table of Contents

Part I: Introduction and Briefings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3B. The Temporal Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4C. Briefing for the Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4D. Q Branch Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7E. Briefing for the Gamesmaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8F. Notes on the Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Part II: Non-Player Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17A. Enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18B. Allies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Part III: Places, Events and Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27A. Ataturk Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27B. Station House T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28C. Investigating Tatiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30D. The Covert War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32E. The Gypsy Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43F. Investigating Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46G. Russian Consulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47H. Stealing the SPECKTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52I. The Orient Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54J. At the Italian Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61K. Boat Chase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62L. Final Gambit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Part IV: Adventure Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65A. Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65B. Altering the Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66C. Further Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Part V: Thrilling Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Credits:

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he From Russia With Love Adventure Moduleis designed to be played by up to four players

and a Gamesmaster. It presents a challenge to one“00” rank, two Agent rank characters, or a party offour Rookie rank characters. Guidelines for modify-ing the adventure to suit parties consisting of char-acters of different ranks are offered in this booklet.This adventure involves the characters in a particu-larly complex and challenging mission and is bestsuited to experienced players and gamesmasters.Note: The information contained in this book is foryou, the Gamesmaster, only. Players should not readthis booklet.

As Gamesmaster, you should be quite familiarwith the adventure as presented in this booklet be-fore you attempt running it. You should read throughthis booklet once to become familiar with the con-tents of the mission. Then you should go over it care-fully, highlighting the main points with a markerand making any notes you feel you will need.

If you are familiar with the movie, you will no-tice that some backgrounds for the NPCs and thebasic plot have been altered from the film. Thesechanges have been made to keep your players fromanticipating events and to instil an element of sur-prise. It is recommended that you inform your play-ers at the start that they will not simply be replay-ing the movie. You may, of course, alter the adven-ture to make it fit your own campaign.

This booklet is organised to present the infor-mation in a logical, sequential manner while you runthe adventure. The “Briefing for the Players” in thissection provides the background information givento the characters at the start of the mission. You can

either read this material verbatim or paraphrase itin a conversation between M (you) and the charac-ters. “Q Branch Equipment” describes the specialequipment available to the characters during thecourse of the mission. The “Briefing for theGamesmaster” contains the events that have hap-pened before the mission starts and the plans ofTAROT strategist Alexei Kronsteen. The “Notes onthe Adventure” section includes information on howa typical mission will run, a timetable for the mis-sion, notes on the props in the Mission Envelope,and a description of the maps that are used in theadventure.

The chapter on NPCs includes the allies andenemies the characters will encounter during themission, and gives you information on how toroleplay these characters effectively. The chapter onPlaces, Events, and Encounters describes the loca-tions the characters will most likely go to, what willhappen when they get there, and special circum-stances for meeting important NPCs. The chapteron Adventure Information describes the conse-quences should the characters succeed or fail themission, suggestions for altering the adventure, andother missions that can be designed using the ele-ments of this adventure. Finally, the Thrilling Cit-ies section provides additional information aboutIstanbul beyond that found in the James Bond 007Game.

There are eight Mission Sheets included in theMission Envelope that provide maps and clues forthe characters. These sheets should be given to theplayers as explained in the text. The Mission Sheetsinclude: a map of Istanbul; M.I.6 dossiers on TatianaRomanova and the SPECKTOR decoder; a photo of

A. Introduction

Part I:Introduction

and Briefings

T

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Romanova signed “From Russia with Love”; blue-prints and sketch maps of the Russian Consulatein Istanbul; two Russian Consulate identity passes;a brochure describing the luxurious Orient Express;a transcript of an encoded message; and a chess col-umn torn from a newspaper. Some of these props willhave to be cut out and then handed to the players.

The central four pages of this booklet containmaps of major locations the characters will probablyvisit during the mission. The stand-up screen con-tains floorplans of the Orient Express carriages, anda map showing the path of the train. These mapsare for the GM’s eyes only and should not be shownto the players.

B. The Temporal SettingMore than many other James Bond story, From

Russia With Love is a tale firmly rooted in the ColdWar. The portrait of Istanbul as a town drowning inintrigue between Russian and British spies; the sti-fling atmosphere of intrigue between East and West;the defection of Communists and their willingnessto sell secrets in exchange for asylum. All thesethings are closely tied to the Cold War period inwhich the novel and film were set. Clearly radicalpolitical and social changes have swept throughEastern Europe and the former Soviet Union overthe past decades, and many of these Cold War insti-tutions have been swept away with them.

When running the From Russia With Love ad-venture, the Gamesmaster should decide for him-self or herself exactly when the adventure takesplace. The obvious option -– setting the adventurein modern day – is problematic. While the twenty-first century still contains echoes from the Cold Warera, much that is key to the adventure has changedforever. The Gamesmaster would need to either con-sciously ignore the anachronisms, or re-tool the plotto refer to more contemporary political intrigues.

An alternative approach would be to run theadventure in the time period in which the storieswere originally set – the 1950s or 60s. While mostpublished material for the James Bond 007 Gamerefers to play set in the world of today, running in apseudo-historical presents an interesting change ofpace. In practice, there is surprisingly little that theGamesmaster needs to do to run a game in such asetting.

Flavour details such as what model car the char-acters drive, or what type of gun they carry might

need to be reviewed. Gadgets also need to be consid-ered from the point of view of the technology of theperiod – there are no portable miniature computerchips in the 1950s, for example. In practice most ofthese issues can be addressed by cosmetic changes– instead of the agents having access to a high-techmodern device which can perform some amazingfeat, the 1950s spy might have access to a mechani-cal or electronic gadget that can do the same thing.Since James Bond gadgets rarely adhere to any re-alism, both make just as much sense.

A third option for time setting is to place theadventure in the default “now” of the Victory GamesJames Bond 007 Game, the mid 1980s. While a lot ofthe Cold War institutions this adventure refers tohave weakened significantly by this point in time,the Cold War is still (nominally) going on.Gamesmasters who are not overly concerned byanachronistic plot points could easily run the ad-venture in this setting, using the published gamematerials.

Another source of potential anachronism is theescape from Istanbul on the Orient Express. Theactual Orient Express ceased operation in 1977, tobe resurrected in 1982 in a limited form which didnot bring it anywhere near Turkey or Yugoslavia. Ifthe adventure is set after 1977, the escape shouldmore properly occur on a less prestigious and luxu-rious train, perhaps a none-to-comfortable carriageof the type found commonly in Eastern Europe. This,of course, is a much less glamorous location. For thisreason a Gamesmaster may wish to either inventan alternative escape route, or simply ignore thewhole issue and have the Orient Express run anyway.

C. Briefing for the CharactersIt is 10:00 on the morning of Wednesday Sep-

tember 10 and the characters are in their offices inthe London M.I.6 compound, dreaming of the exoticplaces and people encountered on their latest mission.They are also idly hoping for something – anything –to come up to take them to other, even more exoticplaces. Anything to get them away from the business-like humdrum routine of a civil service desk job.

As they lazily sort through the small mound ofpapers and envelopes that have accumulated on their“in” trays while on assignment, one of the charac-ters encounters something unusual. In amidst allthe official-looking mail – nestled between a memofrom Q-branch dryly announcing new standard is-sue luggage (of all things), and a new price-list forthe ghastly M.I.6 cafeteria – sits a small, slightly

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crumpled pink envelope. The unusual envelope bearsan unfamiliar stamp in the top right, and a post-mark – read only after considerable squinting – thatsuggests it was sent from Istanbul in Turkey. Turn-ing the letter over, the character momentarily sensesa faint rush of perfume wafting up. They also noticethat the letter has clearly already been opened. Asthe character pulls up the flap on the back, they won-der to themselves what this mysterious piece of mailcontains. Thoughts go through their head about mail-bombs and biological contaminants. But this is a let-ter which has already passed through M.I.6’s scru-pulously secure mail room, so it must be safe – surely.Still with some trepidation, the character opens theenvelope, only to find … a small slip of paper bear-ing the words “Come to my office immediately – M.”

Hurrying up to the top floor offices occupied bythe head of M.I.6, the characters soon find them-selves in the presence of Moneypenny who appearsto be in an atypically sour mood. In place of her tra-ditional banter with the agents, all she offers is awithering stare and a vague hand gesture towardsthe padded leather door of M’s inner office. Beyondthey find their superior seated behind his large,sparsely covered desk, wearing a worried expression.As the characters enter the large office, he is en-grossed in reading a manilla folder marked “SE-CRET”. One hand unconsciously drifts towards asmall tray of confectionary balanced carefully on theside of the desk. The characters stand nervously fora moment or two, wondering whether M noticed theirarrival. Just as they are about to clear their throatto draw his attention, he looks up from the folderwith a curious look which is part accusation and part“I knew you were there all along.”

Dispensing with any pleasantries, M launchesinto a quick interrogation of the character who re-ceived the perfumed letter. He addresses that char-acter directly, asking “What do you know of a …Tatiana Romanova?” Neither the character underquestioning, nor any other characters, have heardof this woman, and presumably they say as much toM. “Are you sure?,” he rejoinders, “She’s not one ofyour … ‘contacts’ … or ‘informants’? Not someoneyou’ve fraternised with in the past?” His questionsare laced with heavy sarcasm, clearly accusing thecharacter with having had some sort of improper li-aison with this woman, whoever she is. Again thecharacter presumably protests their innocence inthis matter. M pauses for a moment, looking the char-acter directly in the eye. After a moment his ironstare is replaced by a more moderate gaze as he ap-parently accepts the character’s claims. “Hmm …very well, let me explain a little,” he continues.

“Yesterday morning, we received a letter ad-dressed to you personally care of ‘British Intelligence,London’. The letter was apparently sent from Istan-

bul in Turkey some days ago. It was intercepted, ofcourse, by our efficient mail staff as being quite unu-sual on a number of counts. Isolating the letter in asafe environment, it was opened, and found to con-tain a short note addressed to you by one TatianaRomanova. While we don’t know much aboutRomanova, we do know that she’s a cryptologicalclerk working for the Russians in Istanbul. The con-tents of the letter were quite remarkable, though.Here take a look.” At this M hands the charactersthe M.I.6 dossier on Tatiana Romanova which con-tains the text of the note plus a brief background.

As the characters read through the note, M con-tinues. “In essence what this woman says in her let-ter is that she wants to defect to the west, and iswilling to secure asylum here by bringing with herone of the Russians’ most secretive decoding ma-chines – a SPECKTOR. But the most ridiculous partof her story is that she will only agree to come toEngland, and to bring us this incredibly valuableprize, if you personally accompany her out of Tur-key. You see, she claims that she has fallen in lovewith you. Apparently from a file photograph in adossier the Russians keep on you. It must be quite aphotograph … if she’s willing to risk her life by steal-ing the Soviets’ most advanced cryptographic deviceand handing it over to us. Assuming, of course, thatthe offer is genuine.”

“Of course, as you have probably deduced foryourselves by now, the offer is almost certainly notgenuine, but some kind of trap. And the bait is thiscipher machine, the SPECKTOR … a brand new oneno less. We’ve been trying to get our hands on one ofthese devices for years, as have the CIA, so as a pieceof bait it’s a masterstroke. While we could just ig-nore this offer on account of its clear duplicity, it


makes more sense to investigate further. After all ifthere is any chance whatsoever that we can get ourhands on one of these decoders, we simply must lookinto it. You’re booked onto the 8:30 flight to Istanbultomorrow morning, your mission to investigate thiswoman and her offer with an eye towards guaran-teeing that the SPECKTOR returns with you to Brit-ain. Do whatever it takes. Oh, and in case you needany extra enticement to pursue this mission, thewoman also sent … this … in the envelope.” He handsthe characters a black and white photograph ofTatiana, who is obviously a very attractive woman.On the bottom corner of the picture, written appar-ently in lipstick, is a caption which reads “FromRussia, With Love”.

As the characters ponder the comely image ofMiss Romanova, M leans over and presses the in-tercom, speaking into it “Miss Moneypenny, wouldyou please send the other gentleman in now.” Aftera moment, the padded leather door opens again andan anonymous-looking man in a black suit entersthe suite.

A short but awkward silence is broken by M, “I’veasked this gentleman to come along and explain alittle about the SPECKTOR and its importance tothe British Intelligence effort. He’s not from M.I.6,but rather is part of … another intelligence arm ofour Military. While these people don’t like usingnames, I can assure you that the gentleman heretoday is a foremost expert in the field of signals in-telligence.” He falls quiet for a moment, apparentlya little unsure about how to continue.

Reluctantly, the man in the black suit begins hisbriefing by handing a single-page dossier to the char-acters. He speaks in a drone-like monotone, simul-taneously affecting a superior air, “I don’t know howmuch you people are taught about cryptography, butlet me tell you that it is one of the most essentialparts of the British Intelligence effort. Each day doz-ens and dozens of messages are intercepted from allaround the world. Some of these are mundane com-munications: nothing more than a ‘situation normal’or ‘nothing to report’. Some, however, convey abso-lutely critical information about the enemy, his as-sets and his intentions. Most often the messages weintercept, particularly from our more significantenemies, come encoded in some way. And it is onlyby cracking the codes that are used that we can ex-tract the information contained therein. Until thiscentury, the codes – or ciphers – that were employedwere relatively simple, a few letters substituted hereand there. Modern cryptography is considerablymore complex, with the number of combinationsnumbering in the millions or even thousands of mil-lions. These complex codes are way beyond code-books and people scribbling on paper; they requirecomplicated mechanical or electronic devices to cal-

culate the encoded version of a message, and to undothis encoding at the reception point. With such codes,the job of cracking them is extremely difficult – un-less some inside information is available, such asthe process by which the encoding or decoding takesplace. Of course it’s even better to have an actualdecoder machine, since then we can just feed ourintercepted messages through the device and pickoff the plain-text messages that are being sent.”

The man pauses a second for dramatic effect,then continues, “Up until about five years ago, wehad the Russians covered as far as codes are con-cerned. Pretty much all of their codes we had eithercracked or possessed decoder devices for. We couldroutinely read virtually every message that they sentor received. All that changed, however, with the in-troduction of the SPECKTOR. The amount of secrecysurrounding this device has been phenomenal. Al-though it has been in use for some years, we knownothing of how this piece of equipment works. Wedo know that the SPECKTOR is used exclusivelyfor the transmission of the most sensitive messages.So you can see that the opportunity to obtain one ofthese decoders, or even to know how they work in-ternally, offers much to Britain’s national security.”

While the man in black has been speaking, Mhas been somewhat absent-mindedly picking piecesof confectionary from his tray and eating them. Asthe man falls silent, he looks for a moment confused.He hesitantly moves to offer the confectionary trayto the cryptographic expert, but changes his mind.Instead, he simply says, “Erm … thank you, that willbe all.”

The black suited figure rises and leaves the of-fice. With a resolute expression, M winds up the brief-ing, “So you can see that there’s an awful lot ridingon this mission. Your contact in Turkey is Kerim Bey,the head of our stationhouse in Istanbul. He’s servedM.I.6 for many years, and knows the city better thananyone. You must make contact with Miss Romanovaas soon as you can, firstly to discover whether heroffer is genuine, but also to gather from her any-thing you can about the SPECKTOR and where it iskept. While I don’t normally endorse agents frater-nising with their opposite numbers, in this case Iinstruct you to use whatever methods are at yourdisposal to carry out your investigation of thiswoman. If you can win her confidence, and even gether back to England with the decoder, there is muchwe could learn from her.”

Somewhat abruptly M concludes the meeting,“That will be all. Remember, you’re on the 8:30 flighttomorrow. And watch your back.” Just as the char-acters are standing up from their chairs, M holds upthe confectionary tray for the characters, saying,“Turkish Delight? They’re my favourites.”

7PART I: INTRODUCTION

D. Q Branch EquipmentWhen the characters visit Q Branch to requisi-

tion equipment for their mission, they will find thelaboratory uncharacteristically quiet, with many ofthe work areas unoccupied and unlit. Q hunches overan untidy workbench brimming with pieces ofunguessable electronic internals. He wears an evenmore tired and world-weary expression than usual,and reacts somewhat grumpily to the characters’presence, firing off a quick “Oh it’s you!”

If the characters enquire as to why Q’s preciouslaboratory is so deserted, he will reply with a sharpquip: “well if you’d have read the inter office memos,you’d know, wouldn’t you? The bean-counters atWhitehall are saying that Q Branch has overspenton this year’s budget and won’t have any more fundsavailable until the new year. Madness.”

Characters who express concern or scepticismthat an organisation like M.I.6 could be held up bysuch bureaucracy elicit a sigh of resignation from Q.“Well, yes, obviously it’s all utter madness. I’ve beenup to M a dozen times since the word came down,but it’s no use. He may have the power to send aman half way round the world to kill another man,or to save him, but there’s one thing he can’t do, andthat’s to make a Civil Service bureaucrat see sense.”

The practical upshot of the situation lamentedby Q is that there is a less than normal amount ofequipment available for the characters to requisi-tion. In particular, there is no new or special gadgetQ can assign for this mission.

“But,” Q will point out, “I can give (each of) youone of our latest standard issue attache case. We’restarting to get them out to all our agents in the field.Already got a few of our agents out of some uncom-fortable situations”. He will then proceed to explainthe various features of the attache case and its con-cealed weaponry. As they are leaving, he will fire ofthe typical parting salvo: “And be careful with that(those). I want it (them) returned in one piece, if it’sall the same to you. There are other agents that willhave to use this equipment, thank you all the same.”

STANDARD ISSUE AGENTS’ ATTACHE CASE:“FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE”

This espionage accoutrement is slightly heavierthan other cases of its ilk, for good reason. Withinconcealed compartments there are 50 gold Sover-eigns, 40 rounds of ammunition concealed in twoseparate sections, a knife, an infrared telescopicsight, and an AR-7 folding stock survival rifle (seebelow). Lest anyone attempt to borrow any of theitems in the case, there is a cartridge of tear gas(disguised as a container of talcum powder) which

activates whenever the case is opened inappropri-ately. To open the case properly, the latches must betwisted horizontally before they are released.

The tear cannister will attack with a PrimaryChance of 20, almost all attacks occurring at EF 5.The gas does Damage Class F, but all damage greaterthan an LW is removed after 15 minutes clear of thegas. The LW result is “healed” 24 hours after thegassing.

AR-7 SURVIVAL RIFLE

This rugged rifle is meant to be a hunting/sur-vival arm for pilots who have been shot down andsubsequently forced to parachute into enemy terri-tory. It was never intended to be a main combatweapon. Its adoption by M.I.6 (and incorporation intothe standard issue agents’ attache case) was due toits portability and concealability – the AR-7 weighsjust 2.75 pounds and its magazine, barrel and re-ceiver can be stored in the butt stock of the rifle. TheAR-7 fires .22 long-rifle ammunition in semi-auto-matic mode. The comparatively short barrel lessensthe accuracy of the AR-7, but it is accurate enoughfor the mission for which it was designed.

The Attributes of the AR-7 are shown below. Theconcealment rating of the AR-7 assumes the rifle isstored in its stock for the first rating; when it is fullyassembled there is no modifier. The AR-7 requires15 Action Rounds (1 minute) to be either disassem-bled or reassembled.

PM S/R AMMO DC CLOSE LONG

+1 2 8 E 0-20 50-100

CON JAM DRAW RL

+3 99 -2 2


E. Briefing for the Gamesmaster

THE ASSASSINATION GAME

The approach by Miss Romanova and the offerof the SPECKTOR decoder is, as everyone guesses,part of a trap. A trap to eliminate the characters,some of M.I.6’s top agents, while simultaneouslynetting the SPECKTOR for the world-wide terror-ist organisation TAROT.

For some time TAROT has held Britain’s Intel-ligence services in high contempt: recent years haveseen several of their extensive plans foiled by M.I.6,in particular by its elite “00” agents. Frustrated withthis constant interference, TAROT has decided todirectly target their opposition. To this end theirmaster strategist, chess grandmaster AlexeiKronsteen, has devised a “fool-proof” plan.Note: If the characters playing this mission havedefeated TAROT’s plots in the past, this plan is par-ticularly crafted in a way which entices M.I.6 to as-sign these agents to the case. If the characters havenever dealt with TAROT before, Kronsteen has care-fully engineered their assignment by virtue of the factthat they are the most capable M.I.6 agents of whichhe is aware.

The basic details of the Kronsteen plot are sim-ple although the means he has chosen to executethem are as Byzantine as befits a chess grandmas-ter. TAROT plans to lure the characters to Istanbulby the promise of obtaining the much sought-afterSPECKTOR decoder device. Kronsteen realises thathis method of baiting the trap – by arranging for abeautiful young Russian cryptographic clerk to of-fer the device to M.I.6 – will appear suspicious. Hereasons, however, that the British will not be ableto resist the chance to obtain this latest piece of Rus-sian cryptographic hardware, sending agents de-spite realising that it is a trap. Once the M.I.6 agentsare in Turkey, the plan is to allow them to under-take the dangerous job of obtaining the SPECKTOR,kept in the Russian Consulate under heavy secu-rity, and then to assassinate the characters once theyhave the device. In this way TAROT can achievetwo goals: revenge against M.I.6 (and in particularagents who have foiled them before), and the own-ership of the decoder for their own nefarious pur-poses.

In executing his plan, Kronsteen has adopted acomplex strategy. Rather than having TAROT op-eratives actively pursue the agents, or assist themin their theft of the decoder, he has opted to makeuse of a number of factions in Istanbul, over whichTAROT have recently gained control. In this wayKronsteen can orchestrate his scheming as a kind

of “puppet-master”, wielding influence from behindthe scenes without ever assuming any risk to himselfor to TAROT directly.

The first piece of Kronsteen’s puppeteering wasthe selection of an innocent young cryptographicclerk inside the Russian Consulate in Istanbul.Kronsteen wished to bait his trap in a convincingmanner, so it became vital to find someone who hadplausible access to the SPECKTOR and who wouldalso be willing to approach M.I.6 with a proposal(the bait). In finding such a person, Kronsteen madeuse of one of TAROT’s highly ranked new recruits,Rosa Klebb. Klebb has very recently defected fromRussia where she had occupied the head role in thecounter-intelligence agency SMERSH. For reasonsof prestige the Russians have suppressed news ofher defection (neither M.I.6 nor most of SMERSHitself knows of her betrayal even now). Thus it wasthat Klebb could readily arrange a meeting with aclerk from the Russian Consulate and, posing in herformer role, task them with a “special mission forthe Russian state”. The clerk she chose was TatianaRomanova, primarily because her beauty wouldmake her an even more powerful lure for M.I.6’s op-eratives. The mission given to Romanova was sim-ple: she must contact M.I.6 with an offer of theSPECKTOR in exchange for asylum; when M.I.6’sagents arrive in Istanbul, she is to allow herself tobe “seduced” into cooperating with them in obtain-ing the decoder.

In addition to the subtle manipulation ofTatiana, Kronsteen has also pulled other strings toput the assassination plot into action. Kerim Bey,head of M.I.6’s station house in Turkey, is currentlybeing blackmailed (indirectly) by TAROT. Using thisinfluence, Kronsteen summoned Bey to Venice wherehe was given a simple mission: assist the M.I.6agents in obtaining the SPECKTOR then kill them,delivering the device to TAROT. While Bey was veryreluctant to agree, the TAROT threats to his familyfrightened him and he ultimately acceded to the plan.Kronsteen was careful when briefing Bey not tomention the other strand of his plans, the TAROTsponsorship of Tatiana’s “defection.”

THE SHAME GAME

While discussing the assassination of the M.I.6agents with Bey, Kronsteen stumbled upon an elabo-ration which he found amusing. TAROT’s hatred ofM.I.6 and its agents is so great that the mere assas-sination of a few agents is but a token revenge. Whatthe organisation truly hungers for is for M.I.6 andthe whole of British Intelligence to be brought intodisrepute on an international stage.


The current plot, Kronsteen realised, offered aunique opportunity to strike such a blow. If TAROTcould perform the agents’ murder in a publicly dis-reputable fashion, or if the sordid details of M.I.6agents fraternising with foreigners could be incon-trovertibly shown, M.I.6’s reputation would be soiled.The cowed Kerim Bey was ordered to carry out hismission with an eye towards such perfidy. While hefelt personally sick at the thought of such a betrayal,Bey had no option but to agree.

Back in Istanbul, Kerim Bey drew up his ownplans to fulfil this awful goal. Engaging the Gypsieson the city’s outskirts, who had long served as Bey’sallies, he formulated a ‘honey trap’. The chief of theGypsy group agreed to the installation of a film cam-era in one of the caravans, and also agreed to stagean elaborate mock fight between two young girls.Bey’s plan, drawing largely upon his own appetites,involves bringing the agents to the Gypsy campwhere they will be placed in a position whereby theycan readily seduce two of the young Gypsy girls. Theliaison will take place in the caravan rigged withequipment, and will be secretly filmed. After he hasassassinated the agents themselves, Bey plans toalso kill these two girls and circulate a sordid storyof a jealous love triangle tragically ending with theM.I.6 agent murdering the girls and committingsuicide. The damage of such a story, backed by proofin the form of the filmed liaison, will seriously dragBritish Intelligence’s name through the mud.

THE COVERT WAR

Not content to simply plot to kill the offendingM.I.6 agents, nor even to kill them in a shamefulway, TAROT has also planned a nasty surprise fortheir stay in Istanbul, in the form of the Covert War(see Part III: D, The Covert War). The mood betweenthe East and the West in Istanbul is always strained,and nowhere is this more obvious than the relation-ship between the British and Russian intelligenceagencies operating within the city. Each is constantlywatching the other, circling like some kind of killerfish waiting for the other to show a weakness.

To make the agents’ life that little more diffi-cult (and also to add yet more credibility to the of-fer of a stolen SPECKTOR), TAROT plans to esca-late this tense situation into an active war betweenthe agencies. This particular subplot is remarkablysimple: the delicate balance between the Russiansand the British is to be rudely broken by the in-discriminate murder of a Russian spy. The KGBagent will be dumped outside the Russian Consu-late mere hours after the characters have arrivedin Istanbul. TAROT fully expects that this one actwill be sufficient to trigger a sweeping range ofretaliations and counter-retaliations.

In this conflict between the rival agencies,TAROT believes that both will suffer. Eventually oneside or the other will “win,” but in doing so will them-selves be weakened. That victor makes an easy tar-get for TAROT to overwhelm. In addition to this long-term objective, the Covert War also serves anotherpurpose in Kronsteen’s eyes: while the various agen-cies are busy chasing after each other, less attentionwill be upon the group he has arranged to steal theSPECKTOR. Thus the theft is more likely to suc-ceed, and TAROT is more likely to achieve their goalof obtaining the secret decoder.

THE COUNTER-INTELLIGENCEMISSION

Completely unrelated to any of the variousthrusts of Kronsteen’s manipulative plot, anotherM.I.6 agent is currently on assignment in Istanbul.Donovan “Red” Grant is an operative in the agen-cy’s super-secretive counter-intelligence division. Hiscurrent long-term assignment involves the investi-gation of the apparent sale of British classified docu-ments to the Russians by an individual within M.I.6.After having followed numerous leads over the pastmonths, Grant has recently arrived in Istanbulwhere he is convinced the original sales of the docu-ments occurred.

Grant is actually quite correct in his investiga-tion; the documents in question were actually ob-tained and sold by Kerim Bey as part of the onerousduties his blackmailers have requested of him. Un-fortunately for Grant, the events of the Kronsteenplot will more than likely overtake his investigation.

Because Grant’s job involves the investigationof the activities of other M.I.6 agents he maintainsa high level of secrecy, concealing himself even fromother British agents. In Istanbul he will notice thearrival of the characters and postulate a link be-tween them and the information leak he is investi-gating. To further his investigation he will tail thecharacters throughout most of their time in Istan-bul. At some point he will realise that they are notthe traitors he is pursuing, nor are they involvedwith them. This realisation may occur when hewitnesses them under attack by the Russians andtheir Bulgarian thugs during the Covert War, orit may occur when he sees them stalked by Beywith murderous intent. Once he is sure of theirlegitimacy as M.I.6 agents, Grant will attempt tohelp them in their mission, but only from the shad-ows. His role as a counter-intelligence agent re-quires him to remain concealed. At the very con-clusion of the adventure, however, when it is ob-vious that the agents require assistance (e.g., get-ting off the train) he will reveal his identity.


F. Notes on the Adventure

GENERAL COURSE OF THE MISSION

How the adventure proceeds, of course, dependsentirely on what the characters do. This adventurediffers from normal James Bond 007 Game missionsby virtue of the fact that the actions of the charac-ters are an integral part of the villain’s careful plot.Thus there is no set course of events. The followingdescribes a logical sequence of events that the char-acters will likely follow. You may use it as a guide-line, since it highlights the most important clues andmeetings for the characters. If you find your charac-ters are missing the clues or are wandering aroundaimlessly, you may have to force encounters to getthem back on track.

1. After their briefing with M, the characterswill fly to Turkey, arriving at Istanbul’s Ataturk In-ternational airport. On their arrival at the airport,they will be noticed by Grant who will be watchingfrom one of the café areas inside the terminal build-ing. The characters may notice Grant’s attentionsat this point and become suspicious.

2. At the airport, the characters will be met byKerim Bey’s eldest son Taksim, who is also one ofhis agents in Istanbul. He will offer to drive the char-acters either to meet Bey or to check into their hotel(whichever they prefer). On the drive into the city,the car will be tailed. If the characters notice this,they will be told by their driver that it is typical forthe Russians and British spies to routinely followone another wherever they go.

3. At some point the characters will arrive atStationhouse T, Kerim Bey’s headquarters disguisedas a rug store. They will meet Bey who will befriendly, but openly sceptical about the mission theyhave been assigned.

4. Off-stage, the first shot will be fired in theCovert War: Kronsteen has arranged for one of hiscriminal contacts in Istanbul to murder one of theRussian agents in the city and have the body ap-pear outside the gates to the Russian Consulate. Thisbody is found shortly after the characters have ar-rived in the city.

5. The characters will most likely express aninterest in Tatiana and the Russian Consulate build-ing (which houses the SPECKTOR machine theyultimately need to retrieve). Getting in touch withTatiana initially proves impossible, however Beyreveals he has a secret underground station for moni-toring what goes on inside the Consulate meetingroom. The characters will probably visit this as theybegin to scout out information about the Consulate.During such a surveillance, the characters will seeKrilencu present in the Consulate. Bey will relatethe man’s evil reputation.

6. Over the next days the retaliation for themurder of the KGB agent begin; the first Russianstrike is in the form of a limpet mine which demol-ishes one section of the M.I.6 Stationhouse. Britishreprisals follow, and so on. The characters can getinvolved with these actions if they wish, althoughthis is mostly peripheral to their mission.

7. Early on the second day that the charactersare in Istanbul, Bey will try to track them down togive them a piece of information. His communica-tions and decoding section has intercepted a mes-sage which apparently refers to the characters, andwhich might have been written by the mysteriousblond man who has been following them.

8. At some point during the covert war, Bey willput his ‘honey pot’ plan into action. Using the ex-cuse that the characters are in danger if they re-main in Istanbul, he arranges for them to spend thenight instead at a Gypsy camp just outside the city.During the evening, the characters may notice thatthey are being watched by a blond man (Grant). Atdinner, the head of the Gypsy’s will be called on toadjudicate in a dispute between two attractivewomen. By tradition, the two women resolve theirdifferences by hand-to-hand combat. One way oranother, Bey will arrange for the fight to be inter-rupted with the responsibility for deciding the dis-pute falling to the characters (who will be given pri-vate accommodation with the women to ‘come totheir decision’). Any liaison that occurs will be se-cretly filmed by Bey for later use in his plan. Thenext morning, the Gypsy camp is attacked by a smallgroup of Bulgarians, employed by the Russians astroops in the covert war. If necessary, Grant (who isstill watching the characters from a distance) canhelp out by sniping a few of the attackers. Eventually,the Bulgarians will retreat. However, any dead or in-capacitated agents can be searched, granting the char-acters an entry pass to the Russian Consulate.

9. Also at some point during the covert war, thecharacters will be contacted directly by Tatiana. Shehas been instructed to approach the characters anduse her good looks and charm to convince them ofher sincerity and willingness to carry through thetheft of the SPECKTOR. She will introduce herselfby arranging to be in one of the characters’ hotelrooms when they return one evening. Tatiana offersto do anything she can to obtain information aboutthe Russian Consulate and the security surround-ing the decoder. She cannot however be seen openlyconsorting with the British as she is, like most otherRussians in the city, under the constant surveillanceof Internal Security. Depending on what the charac-


ters make of Tatiana’s offer, they may have to or-ganise a series of clandestine meetings wherebypapers can be secretly passed to the characters. Oneconvenient place to arrange such a drop-off is theSaint Sophia Mosque.

10. During their investigations, the charactersmay become suspicious of the activities of Kerim Bey.If they do a little poking around in his office (duringthe cleanup after the bomb blast is a good time) theyfind an unusual clipping from a local paper. The clip-ping contains moves from a recent chess game playedby Kronsteen in Venice. It appears to have been an-notated with a decoded message instructing the re-cipient to come to Venice to receive their ‘instruc-tions’. Bey is not identified as the recipient of themessage and he will concoct any story to establishGrant as the figure ordered to murder the M.I.6 op-eratives. If the characters don’t openly investigateBey this clue will come to them by chance, for exam-ple falling from Bey’s wallet as he pays the bill at arestaurant.

11. Eventually the characters will need to col-lect enough information to plan a raid on the Rus-sian Consulate to steal the SPECKTOR. Tatiana canbe useful in obtaining a reasonably detailed descrip-tion of the interior of the Consulate and, in particu-lar, the secure KGB Basement Offices. She can evendraw a sketch map showing the security devices pro-tecting this area (provided as one of the props). Beycan also be useful in obtaining official blueprints forthe building from the government administrationoffices (or the characters can chase the bureaucratsthemselves). One difficulty the characters will needto overcome is that no-one is permitted into mostareas of the Consulate compound without a specialpass. If the characters’ plan involves sneaking intothe building, they will probably need such passes.Depending on activities occurring in the covert war,such passes may be relatively easy to come by: theBulgarian heavies undertaking the missions againstthe British carry basic entry passes. Their leader,Krilencu, has a special pass in his apartment whichalso permits entry into the KGB Basement Offices.All passes carry a photograph: characters using themwill need to either doctor the photos or use their dis-guise talents.

12. Once the characters have succeeded in get-ting the SPECKTOR, Bey will be very eager thatthey should escape the city as soon as possible. Tatianawill probably want to accompany the characters. Theagents can make their own suggestions as to escapeplans, although the only really viable plan is to leavethe city by train. Bey, Tatiana and the characters willprobably board the Orient Express bound for the Bul-garian border, where Bey says he has a plane ready tofly the characters back to London.

13. On the train, the group will encounter a Rus-sian security man who recognises Tatiana. Bey re-strains the man in one of the compartments. Laterthe conductor alerts the characters to the fact thatthe Russian has been shot in the compartment andBey is missing, apparently pushed through a win-dow in the compartment. While investigating this,the characters will miss their rendezvous with Bey’splane.

14. After passing through Zagreb, Grant, whohas been undercover on the train in another carriage,will contact the characters, revealing himself to bea M.I.6 agent. He tells them that they must leavethe train before it reaches the Italian border (as theydon’t have the proper papers to cross into Italy, andthe border guards will likely confiscate theSPECKTOR). He tells them his plan to jump fromthe train just before the border, as the train slowsdown to pass through mountains. He has a truckand a boat waiting at this point which the charac-ters can use to escape to Italy.

15. After Grant explains his plan, he is shot deadby Bey who has been hiding in the character’s com-partment. Bey explains his role in the grand planand tries to claim the SPECKTOR device. He alsotries to kill the characters. A fight most likely en-sues in the limited confines of the train.

16. Characters surviving the climactic fight withBey will most likely want to follow Grant’s originalplan. They jump from the train and locate the truckand driver which had been arranged. While drivingto the boat, however, the truck is spotted by a Yugo-slavian helicopter border patrol which orders it tostop. A chase ensues.


17. Arriving at the boat, the characters will prob-ably plan to pilot it to Italy (Trieste or Venice arethe closest cities). This escape is complicated byTAROT: by monitoring the radio transmissions ofthe helicopters they have now regained the trail ofthe characters, and they have sent several speed-boats to eliminate the characters. Another chasesequence takes place with the characters dodg-ing rocky islands and TAROT speedboats. Thechase may end in a number of ways, including anenormous petrol explosion.

18. Once the characters arrive in Italy, theyhave effectively completed the mission. TheGamesmaster can run an optional scene (see PartIII: L, Final Gambit) in which they are assaultedby an enraged Kronsteen, furious that his “fool-proof” plan has failed.

MISSION TIMETABLE

The From Russia With Love adventure has nofixed mission timetable. The Istanbul section of theadventure comprises a number of individual eventsand encounters that can be run more-or-less in anyorder, at whatever time suits the gamesmaster andthe rate of progress of the characters. To help keeptrack of this part of the adventure, the gamesmastermay wish to build his or her own “mission timeta-ble” by choosing a sequence of Istanbul-based eventsor encounters and allocating each to a time slot. Thenearby table provides a template. As the adventureprogresses the gamesmaster should revise the time-table in accordance with the dramatic requirementsof the game. For example, if the gamesmaster feels

the pace of the adventure needs to be picked up, orthe characters require a nudge, he or she might de-cide to shunt one or more events forwards. Con-versely, if the characters have too much to deal withalready, or are floundering, it might be appropriateto push events backwards. Because the timetable issubject to such changes, the gamesmaster should usepencil when drawing up the initial table of events.

Once the characters have retrieved theSPECKTOR decoder and are escaping Turkey on theOrient Express, the adventure becomes more linear,with events and encounters occurring in the strictorder described in Part III: I, The Orient Express.All action following the departure from Istanbul willprobably be resolved within a single day.

PROPS AND MAPS

Included with this adventure is a Mission En-velope containing 8 sheets that provide clues to behanded out to the players during the mission. Theclues are described below, and the locations wherethey should be found are indicated, plus back-up lo-cations if the characters miss them. If the charac-ters are far off-course, you may have to improvise amethod for them to find a vital clue. Some of thesheets will have to be cut apart.

M.I.6 Dossier on Tatiana Romanova. TheRomanova dossier is handed to the characters dur-ing the briefing with M. It outlines the very limitedamount of information knows about the juniorcryptographic clerk. The dossier also includes a fac-simile of the hand-written note in which Tatianaoutlines her willingness to defect with the

Day Morning Afternoon Evening

Day 1: CharactersWednesday, Arrive inSeptember 10 Istanbul

Day 2:Thursday,September 11

Day 3:Friday,September 12

Day 4:Saturday,September 13

Day 5:Sunday,September 14

Day 6:Monday,September 15

Event Codes:

T1 Tatiana Takes the Initiative

Tr Rendezvous With Tatiana

C1 TAROT Kills Bulgarian Agent

C2 Stationhouse T Blown Up

C3 Incident on the Bosphorous Ferry

C4 Fight at the Turkish Baths

C5 Murder in Saint Sophia

C6 Bey Attempts to Assassinate Krilencu

G Bey Takes Characters to Gypsy Camp

R1 Bey Intercepts Grant’s Message

R2 Chess Column Revealed by Bey

Rw Grant Observed in the Distance

SB Blueprints for Russian Consulate Ready

SC Russian Consul Holds Cocktail Ball

__ ___________________________________

__ ___________________________________

__ ___________________________________

__ ___________________________________


SPECKTOR. This note is addressed to one of thecharacters; you should write one of the charac-ters name (preferably a male agent who has lockedhorns with TAROT previously) in the blank spaceat the top of the letter.

M.I.6 Dossier on the SPECKTOR Decoder.The SPECKTOR dossier is handed to the charac-ters during the briefing with M. It describes all theintelligence M.I.6 currently has on the Russiancryptographic device. The dossier also contains acomposite sketch of the SPECKTOR which mayprove useful when the characters are breaking intothe Russian Consulate to steal the device. A charac-ter who states that he is using his or her recollec-tion of the dossier sketch to determine which of the(many) devices in the code room is the SPECKTORwill get a +3 EF modifier to the PER roll.

Signed Photograph of Tatiana Romanova.This is the photograph which Tatiana sent to M.I.6along with her plea for asylum in England. Writtenacross the photograph in pink (perhaps lipstick) is“From Russia. With Love. Tatiana XXX.” This propshould be given to the characters during their brief-ing with M.

Map of Istanbul. The map shows the basic lay-out of the city in which most of the action in thisadventure will take place. It should be given to theplayers either when they first meet Kerim Bey atStationhouse T, or when they first check into theirhotel. Alternatively, the characters can buy such amap at any news stand throughout the city.

Russian Consular Passes. Two passes are pro-vided, each being a set of identification papers whichallow entry into the Russian Consulate building.Without one of these passes, the characters will notbe allowed in any of the non-public areas of the build-ing (everywhere except the reception and main ad-ministrative office). One of the passes, coloured blue,is for a Bulgarian individual by the name of KristoStojanov. This pass can be obtained by the charac-ters at any point during the Covert War (see PartIII: D, The Covert War) when the characters or theirallies have killed or otherwise incapacitated one ofthe Bulgarian heavies. Alternatively this pass couldbe obtained from a Bulgarian agent killed or inca-pacitated during the raid on the Gypsy Camp (seePart III: E, The Gypsy Camp). Note that the bluepass grants access to anywhere within the buildingexcept for the basement (which houses a KGBstationhouse). The second pass, coloured red, belongsto Boris Krilencu and can only be obtained by search-ing Krilencu’s apartment (see Part III: D, The CovertWar). The red pass is a higher level access, and in ad-dition to the consulate building it also grants accessto the KGB basement.

Blueprints of Russian Consulate. These arethe architect’s blueprints for the building currentlyoccupied by the Russian Consulate. Note that thereare a couple of minor differences between the con-struction blueprints and the current layout of thebuilding (see the map in the centre of this bookletfor the latter). These blueprints are on file in one ofIstanbul’s government administration offices and are


readily available to Bey or to anybody else obtain-ing a QF 3 or better on an EF 5 Local Customs Roll.The administrative offices are only open between thehours of 9 AM – 2 PM and 3PM to 7PM weekdays; anormal request takes 1 full day to be satisfied, al-though this can be shortened with a QF 2 or betterPersuade roll (bribes grant a +2 modifier). With a QF2 result, the papers are available in 6 working hours,a QF 1 result means they are ready in 3 working hours.

Tatiana’s Sketch Map of Russian Consulate.If asked, Tatiana can make a hand-sketched map ofthe area of the Consulate building in which sheworks (the KGB Basement Offices). This map, un-like the blueprints, shows the security devices whichprotect the offices, and as such is of considerablymore use in preparing a raid. The characters willneed to work out with Tatiana a plan for getting thismap to them without raising the suspicions of anyof the SMERSH and KGB agents who are tailingthe agents. Once they have concocted such a scheme,and it has been successfully executed, give them theprop.

Transcript of Intercepted Message. On thesecond day of the characters’ stay in Istanbul, KerimBey will inform them that his Stationhouse has in-tercepted and decoded a communication sent fromIstanbul to an unidentified foreign destination. Al-though he will not tell the characters, the reasonthe message was so easily decoded was that it usedone of M.I.6’s own codes – indeed it was a communi-cation sent by M.I.6 agent Donovan Grant back toLondon. Once Bey has informed the agents of hisdiscovery, give them the transcript of the message.Any character with the Cryptography field of expe-rience who examines the transcript and who suc-ceeds in a EF 5 PER roll recognises phrases com-monly used in M.I.6 coded messages.

Chess Column Torn from Newspaper. Thenewspaper column showing the results of theKronsteen vs McAdams chess game may be foundin Kerim Bey’s office. This column is actually a codedmessage, and Bey has underlined key sections whichspell out instructions from TAROT. The characterscan find this prop in the safe in Bey’s office or any-where else in the Stationhouse that the charactersare searching for information. Alternatively, the col-umn may be found in Bey’s wallet.

Orient Express Brochure. This brochure de-picts the luxurious train on the characters and (mostlikely) Tatiana will make their escape from Istan-bul. The prop should be handed to the players whenthey have boarded the train.

Included with this adventure are a number ofmaps and floorplans of the various locations the char-acters will be visiting. A map of Eastern Europe ison the Gamesmaster screen, showing the route theOrient Express takes from Istanbul to Trieste inItaly. The floorplans to the various carriages of thistrain are also shown on the Gamesmaster screen.This screen is folded to allow you to use it as a shield.The central four pages of this booklet includefloorplans to the other major locations the charac-ters will visit. These floorplans are for the Russianconsulate in Istanbul, the Gypsy camp, and the SaintSophia Mosque.

Note: You will have to make up the floorplans anddetails of any other locations the characters may de-cide to visit. The locations described in this bookletare the important ones for the characters to completetheir mission.

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR THE GM

1. The free-form nature of the Istanbul sectionof the From Russia With Love adventure, coupled withthe complex motivations of the NPCs, place particu-lar demands on you as a gamesmaster. Before run-ning the adventure make absolutely sure that you arefamiliar with both the real motivations of each of the


NPCs and also the façade each presents to the M.I.6agents. Keep these at the back of your mind when youare deciding exactly how a given NPC will react tothe situations that arise during the adventure.

2. The From Russia With Love adventure isunique in that virtually nothing and nobody thatthe characters encounter is exactly what it seems.The key “secrets” that you should aim to keep unre-solved for as long as possible are the relative alle-giances of Red Grant and Kerim Bey.

While various clues and encounters may providehints as to Kerim’s treachery, the adventure worksbest if the characters believe him to be basicallytrustworthy right up until the moment he attemptsto murder them. The dramatic impact of this revela-tion is something you should try to maximise, sinceit is effectively the climax of the adventure. Thereare a couple of mechanisms you can use to keep char-acters from catching on too early. Bey will be verycareful to subtly paint Grant as the villain when-ever possible. He knows that Grant is out to get him,and also knows that the M.I.6 agent’s need to keepin the shadows naturally makes him look suspicious.If the characters seem to be drawing conclusions thatGrant is the villain, Bey will do everything in hispower to strengthen that impression. This includesconcocting plausible stories to shift suspicion fromhim to Grant. For example, when agents locate thecoded message revealing the link with TAROT inBey’s office, he will endeavour to come up with aplausible story describing how he found the papersomewhere shortly after Grant had been seen there.

On the flipside, the dramatic intensity of the cli-max is also served by keeping the characters slightlyunsure as to Grant’s (apparent) role as villain. Thevarious clues along the way might point at him as aguilty party, but other events paint him in a morepositive light. If the characters are totally convincedof his villainy you should invent encounters or hintsto challenge that conclusion. The point at whichGrant reveals himself as an M.I.6 agent on the trainis supposed to be a tense encounter, with the char-acters unsure as to whether to trust the man. Itdoesn’t necessarily work as well when the charac-ters are so convinced of his guilt that they instantlyshoot him when he appears.

3. Once the agents have finally retrieved theSPECKTOR from the Russian Consulate they maybe at a loss as to what to do next. You should remindthem that, until the device is back safely in Eng-land, their mission is not over. At this point in pro-ceedings you should have Bey chime in with the sug-gestion of escape on the Orient Express. In all like-lihood this will be the only viable option, with nei-

ther airports nor boating ports offering a quickenough means of escape. The Russians will noticetheir loss quickly and will dispatch every operativeboth Russian and Bulgarian to find both Bey andthe agents (the most logical suspects regardless ofwhat has preceded). If the characters equivocate inthe slightest, you should arrange for small groups ofSoviet agents to begin noting their presence and giv-ing chase. In this pursuit the Russians will be quitehappy to use whatever overt or covert means are attheir disposal. The whole city will literally be in anuproar within a few hours of the theft.

4. While there is no true timetable to this mis-sion – the villains are simply waiting for theSPECKTOR to be delivered into their hands by thecharacters – slow progress may prove a problem. Inthe instance that the characters have become caughtup in an irrelevant side plot (e.g., fighting the Rus-sians in the Covert War), you may need to give thema prod to get them back on track. This could come inthe form of a message from Grant (if he has becomeconvinced that they aren’t double agents) or even ahint from TAROT’s operatives in Istanbul (Klebb andBey). Certainly TAROT is interested in maximisingthe characters chances at stealing the SPECKTOR– if that means passing information to point themin the right direction, this is what they will do. Ofcourse, they will endeavour to do this in as subtle away as possible, so as not to overstate their interestin the characters’ mission.

If the characters are clearly not going to find animportant clue (for example, the Russian Consulateblueprints), you may have to intervene. The intrigueand atmosphere of the adventure depends on thecharacters finding certain clues, and you should dowhatever you can to make sure those clues are found.If your players refuse to follow your leads, you maywish to penalise them by giving them fewer Experi-ence Points at the conclusion of the mission.

5. Since the mission will probably be run overseveral play sessions, you may need to remind theplayers of important facts, or their ultimate mission(getting the SPECKTOR and if possible Tatiana backto England). Remind them also of the urgency of themission. You might wish to capsulise M’s briefing tothem at the beginning of each new session.

If is suggested that you make notes as the mis-sion progresses so as to be able to remind the charac-ters at the start of each game session of what theyhave so far accomplished. These notes will also refreshyour memory as to what has happened. If it impor-tant to write down such things as NPCs’ Reactions tothe characters, Seduction stages achieved, and infor-mation points revealed. You should review your notesbefore re-entering the ring with your players.


6. Donovan Grant exists as a play equaliser, es-pecially in conflict situations such as fight or chasesequences. If the agents are having a particularlydifficult time of an encounter, or are likely to be de-feated by an opponent, you can always have Grantpresent to fire a shot from the shadows with his AR-7 rifle or push a market cart in front of a pursuingcar. Of course, if your players are going along fine on

their own, you should leave Grant as a purely pas-sive observer. The staff of M.I.6’s Stationhouse T canbe similarly used to bolster the firepower of the agentteam if necessary. Most of these operatives areKerim’s sons (use normal Priveleged Henchman sta-tistics), however, so their first loyalties will be to him.Thus agents shouldn’t rely on help from Station T ifthey set out to expose Kerim as a double agent.

17

17

Part II:Non-Player

Characters

esides the physical evidence, the other majormethod by which the characters gather in-

formation is through their interaction with theNPCs. The characteristics and statistics given foreach NPC allow you to role-play them more effec-tively with your players.

The NPCs in the From Russia With Love Adven-ture Module differ in several ways from those pre-sented in the James Bond 007 Game. The NPCs inthis adventure are given idiosyncrasies and definedinteraction modifiers to help you individualise themwhen playing them. The background given for eachNPC explains who the person is and how he or shefits into the overall adventure. Additionally, NPCsare given weapons of preference, which you maychange as you wish.

The idiosyncrasies listed for each NPC are quirksor habits that will help you personalise the charac-ter so that the players will be able to recognise theperson easily during any meeting with him or her.The interaction modifiers are used in conjunctionwith the chapter “How to Interact with Non-PlayerCharacters” in the James Bond 007 Game. The Re-action modifier listed in this adventure is the onlyone you use when determining the NPC’s initialReaction to the characters. The other modifiers (Per-suasion, Seduction, Interrogation, and Torture) arecumulative with any other modifier that is normallyapplied to this form of interaction. Since the inter-action modifiers exist to show differences among theNPCs as people, feel free to alter or ignore them asyou wish.Note: Except for Reaction, these modifiers apply onlywhen a Player Character is performing interactionrolls against the NPC, never the other way.

If the players question a very low Ease Factorbecause of one of these modifiers, you should explain

the difference by using some aspect of the NPC’spersonality (“She seems friendly” or “He acts sullenand uncooperative” or something similar). You shouldnot announce to them what the specific interactionmodifier is. Note that most of these modifiers areused in conjunction with other modifiers; you do nothave to tell the players what modifiers you are ap-plying to a roll.

Most NPC descriptions list several points of in-formation the NPC knows. Allied NPCs will give thecharacters as much information as you wish; it issuggested that the Player Characters make the firsteffort of getting the information rather than you sim-ply offering the points to them. The enemy NPCswill not reveal their information except through in-terpersonal actions.

The enemy NPCs will usually have four or eightpoints of information. These points are listed in or-der of importance. You may, however, give the char-acters the points of information in any order youwish or withhold any information points if your ad-venture demands it. The points of information thatwill be revealed depend on the method of interac-tion used by the characters.

If the initial Reaction roll is Friendly, an NPCwith 8 information points will reveal the first. If theReaction is Enamored, an NPC with 8 informationpoints will reveal the second point as well (an NPCwith 4 information points will reveal the first pointonly on an Enamored result). Any other Reactionwill gain the characters no information. If a charac-ter attempts to use Persuasion to gain information,he will receive one information point for each “Y”result. If any Persuasion attempt results in an “N,”the NPC will reveal no further points to the charac-ter through Persuasion.

B


If a character attempts Seduction on an NPC,the NPC will reveal one point of information shouldthe Seduction successfully reach the Beginning In-timacies stage and another point will be revealedwith a successful When and Where stage. Should theNPC at any stage of the Seduction successfully re-sist, he or she will reveal no further point throughSeduction.

If the characters use Interrogation on an NPC,the number of information points they receive de-pends on the standard rules for Interrogation. Thus,if the Skill Use Chart indicates the NPC reveals 50%of the truth, an NPC with four points will reveal the

first two, and one with eight points will reveal thefirst four. A result of 75% means the NPC revealsthree or six information points; a result of 90% wouldhave an NPC with four points hint towards thefourth, and one with eight points would reveal theseventh. A result of 100% means the NPC revealsall information points, and anything else you deter-mine the person knows.

As a rule of thumb, the more damaging the pointof information is to the NPC, the less willing theperson will be to reveal it. The interaction modifiersgiven to an NPC may make that person less suscep-tible to various forms of interaction.

A. Enemies

KERIM BEY

STR: 13 DEX: 10 WIL: 11 PER: 13 INT: 10

SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Boating (9/20), Charisma (13/24), Cryptography (8/18), Driving(6/17), Evasion (10/21), Fire Combat (10/21), Hand-to-HandCombat (12/25), Interrogation (9/19), Local Customs (13/26),Seduction (12/23), Sixth Sense (13/24), Stealth (13/24)ABILITIES: Connoisseur, First Aid, PhotographyHEIGHT: 5’9” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 210lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 43 STAMINA: 30 hoursAPPEARANCE: Good Looking RUNNING/SWIMMING: 40 minutesFAME POINTS: 77 CARRYING: 150-210 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 6 WEAPON: Luger Parabellum

FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: International Law, Law, Microphotog-raphy, Photography

WEAKNESSES: Attraction to Members of the Opposite Sex

IDIOSYNCRASIES: Expansive and flamboyant in dress, expres-sion and speech; flatters and attends to any attractive women.

INTERACTION MODIFIERS: Reaction (+2/-5), Persuasion(+1/-4), Seduction (+3), Interrogation (-3), Torture (-1)

Note: Two Modifiers are given for Reaction and Per-suasion Interactions with Bey. The first modifier de-scribes the façade he presents to the characters (i.e.,friendly and amenable) while the second describeshis true attitudes. The latter should be used in deter-mining Bey’s willingness to reveal information.

BACKGROUND: Kerim Bey has had a long an inter-esting life. Born the son of a Turkish circus performerfather and a Mexican mother, Bey started his lifeand career in flamboyant style. As the youngstrongman for the travelling circus troupe, he wouldroutinely be seen bending steel bars, snapping chainsand the like. Even at this early age, Bey had devel-oped a strong sense of showmanship and an ability

to weave a larger-than-life image for himself fromnothing. Well liked in the circus troupe, he eventu-ally became Ringleader for a year or so, before thecircus finally disbanded because of declining attend-ances and political instability in the rural regions ofTurkey they called home.

Moving further afield, Bey spent a few shortyears taking his various performing skills to a vari-ety of other countries in Europe and the Middle East.It was during this time that Kerim discovered thathis natural charisma was a powerful tool for creat-ing opportunities, both within his performing career,but most particularly with women. His appetites forthe latter grew to become extensive and exotic, en-compassing liaisons from Paris to Bahrain.

It was in Aden that Kerim Bey first encounteredhis future wife, Magda, a fiery Romanian woman of

19PART II: NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS

noble blood. They were married within the year, withthe first of Bey’s extensive line of sons arrivingshortly thereafter. Kerim moved back to Turkey soonafterwards, to begin raising his family in the “proper”Turkish way. He lived for several years in the hillvillage he grew up in, although economic circum-stances eventually forced him to take up his uncle’scarpet store in Istanbul. He proved very successfulin this business, his natural charisma and charmbringing in an extraordinary trade, and allowingexpansion into other wares. Kerim, Magda and theever-increasing Bey lineage began to live the good life.

Bey’s remarkable flamboyance and charismasoon also brought him to the attention of M.I.6 whowere interested in building up a group of Istanbul-based agents for spying on the activities of the Rus-sians in the Balkans. Initially, Kerim refused theadvance, his family being more important to himthan the intrigues of espionage. Then, some 15 yearsago, Kerim’s life was turned upside down: his wifewas drowned in a freak boating accident on theBosphorous. The tragedy, it transpired, was actuallyno accident but a murderous act by a local crimering whose livelihood was threatened by Bey’s rap-idly expanding cartel. M.I.6, still eager to recruit Beyas an operative, offered to help track down the crimi-nals and their bosses and eliminate them. The offerwas accepted, the operation undertaken, and at theend of it all Bey was a British agent.

Bey’s natural talents and local knowledge provedto be invaluable in espionage work, and he veryquickly became the most talented operative in thenewly formed Station T. Two years later, when theBritish spymaster posted to head the station choseto transfer back to England, Bey was an obviouschoice to take up the position.

For over a decade, Bey offered extremely reli-able service to the British crown, undertaking a widerange of missions inside and out of Turkey (one par-ticularly memorable expedition found him in Tokyowith M and another agent, exploring the exotic worldof a Geisha house). His loyalties, however, began tobe called into question about a year ago. Again itwas family concerns that threw Kerim’s world intoturmoil: his eldest son Taksim had fallen in with anundesirable crowd, and had been seen by some trad-ing in illegal narcotics. Rather than expose Bey’s sonto the authorities (which would have lead ultimatelyto his execution), the criminal gang used this infor-mation to blackmail Kerim. At first, their requestswere simple enough – they sought minor classifieddocuments that could be sold to the Russians forcash. Fearful of the consequences to his son shouldhe refuse, Kerim acceded with much shame. The re-quests, however, continued.

What Kerim Bey does not know is that the groupblackmailing him is not merely some thuggish groupof local criminals, but is actually the internationalterror organisation TAROT. He is now effectively adouble-agent: openly supporting the M.I.6 cause, butin reality operating according to TAROT’s instruc-tions. His latest mission is actually part of the grandTAROT plan described in the Gamesmaster Brief-ing. He has been instructed to assist the M.I.6 agentson their mission to steal the SPECKTOR decoder, inthe meantime collecting compromising materialdamaging to their reputation. Once the agents havethe SPECKTOR he has been told to kill them, ob-tain the decoder and surrender it to his blackmail-ers (TAROT). He has been promised that success inthis dangerous mission will end the ordeal of hisblackmail.

Note: TAROT’s plan in the From Russia With Loveadventure relies on several different groups perform-ing their part without any knowledge of the partsplayed by the others. Thus, while Bey is acting as aTAROT operative to aid the characters and (ulti-mately) to steal the SPECKTOR from them, he hasno idea that the Russians and their allies are alsoworking for TAROT. When Krilencu and his Bulgar-ian thugs begin their assault on Bey and M.I.6, hewill have no knowledge that this is part of the TAROTplan, and will react by counterattacking the Russians.While it may seem counterproductive for two groupsof TAROT agents to be fighting one another, this isactually a deliberate part of the plan. Once both Rus-sians and British have exhausted one another,TAROT can snatch the SPECKTOR unopposed.

PERSONALITY DESCRIPTION: Bey’s light hearted,devil-may-care, quipster image belies the serious-ness with which he approaches espionage work. Onedrawback is his predilection for beautiful women.Since the death of his wife, he has had a successionof female companions, all lovely and all transient.While this “hobby” has never interfered with his ef-ficiency, it does give M cause for worry.

Bey is a firm believer in nepotism and he hastrained his sons in the fine art of espionage. His sonsare now among his top operatives since he truststhem over everyone else. Bey has established excel-lent contacts with the gypsies that live near Istan-bul, and has used them many times as informationsources and on important assignments.

POINTS OF INFORMATION: Bey has the followingpoints of information available. The first four pointshe will offer freely to characters he has a good reac-tion to. The last four points can only be obtainedthrough Persuasion, Seduction or Interrogation.


1. The Russian and British Intelligence services main-tain a complex and overt relationship in Istanbul, rou-tinely tailing each other and openly spying on meetings.2. Tatiana really does work at the Russian consu-late as a low-level clerk. She would have access tothe SPECKTOR decoder

3. There is a secret tunnel beneath the Russian con-sulate which can be used to spy on meetings

4. The characters’ hotel room is probably bugged5. Bey has recently returned from a short trip toItaly, where he was conducting unspecified business6. Red Grant is an agent for a foreign power, prob-ably Russia, who has been watching the movementsof M.I.6 in Istanbul for the past several weeks7. Red Grant is actually an M.I.6 undercover agent8. Bey is actually working for TAROT not M.I.6

Alexei Kronsteen


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Charisma (6/19), Disguise (8/22), Driving (7/18), Electronics (9/23), Evasion (10/18), Fire Combat (8/19), Hand-to-Hand Com-bat (6/14), Interrogation (12/26), Science (8/22), Sixth Sense (12/25), Stealth (12/25)ABILITIES: Connoisseur, First Aid, PhotographyHEIGHT: 5’6” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 132lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: AAGE: 39 STAMINA: 30 hoursAPPEARANCE: Plain RUNNING/SWIMMING: 40 minutesFAME POINTS: 143 CARRYING: 101-150 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 3 WEAPON: Dagger-Shoe

FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: Board Games, Political Science,Wargames

WEAKNESSES: None

IDIOSYNCRASIES: Precise and calculating; a little neurotic; be-comes desperate and furious when his careful plans go awry.

INTERACTION MODIFIERS: Reaction (-5), Persuasion (-2), Se-duction (-1), Interrogation (+2), Torture (+3)

BACKGROUND: Kronsteen is a brilliant chess mas-ter, and also one of TAROT’s top strategists.

Born in Leningrad, he became an internationalchess master at the age of 16, taking the junior worldchampionship at age 18. He was conferred grand-master status in the same year. He has played intournaments around the world. His abilities to out-wit his opponents and force them into making blun-dering moves is renown throughout the chess world.

Kronsteen escaped from behind the Iron Cur-tain in his early-30s, acquiring Austrian citizenshipand passport. He has no family or close friends, nordid he leave anyone behind in the USSR. Consider-ing his skill at chess, it is interesting that the Sovi-ets have not tried to force him back onto their side.

TAROT have used Kronsteen’s excellent skillsas a strategist in a number of their operations. Hisability to travel openly to chess tournaments any-where in the world also makes him a useful courierand general medium for keeping all the geographi-cally-dispersed cells well informed. In his years withthe organisation, he has risen rapidly through theranks. He is now Planning Director of Special Op-

erations, one of the top positions within the terror-ist group. The current plot against both the Russiansand British (as outlined in the Gamesmaster Brief-ing) is entirely Kronsteen’s invention. This plan wasconceived after many months of careful considera-tion of the political situation in both the East andWest and is, Kronsteen believes, totally fool-proof.Should cracks start to appear in this complex scheme,Kronsteen will most likely fall into a self-righteousrage: he is not used to his strategies failing, and doesnot deal well with such failure. Given TAROT’s no-torious intolerance to failure, anything short of to-tal success in the SPECKTOR plot will probablyleave Kronsteen’s life in jeopardy.

In the From Russia With Love adventure, char-acters will probably have little contact withKronsteen. He will remain a shadowy influence be-hind the scene, the author of the complex plans thatthe characters will need to unravel. At the very endof the adventure, when his plans are in tatters, hemay attempt to directly confront the characters in amurderous rage (see Part III:L The Final Gambit).

Kronsteen always wears one of the deadly Dag-ger Shoes which TAROT often use in their covertassassination operations. These are ordinary shoes


with a tapered 10cm blade concealed in the frontsection of the sole. Tapping a small sensor locatedon the side of the heel causes the blade to spring outand lock. The dagger blade may then be used in kickattacks to inflict significant damage. It is commonpractice for TAROT operatives to coat the blades witha rapid-acting poison. The Attributes for the DaggerShoe are:


0 na na +2 na na

CON JAM DRAW RL

-8 99* 0 na

* The shoe may jam when the spring mechanism isengaged to expose the blade. Once the blade is ex-posed, the shoe can never jam.

Any wound inflicted with a Dagger Shoe lacedwith TAROT’s deadly Sea Wasp Toxin, has a chanceof causing almost instantaneous death. Afflictedcharacters must receive a QR 3 or better on an EF 1STR roll or expire within 30 seconds. Even a suc-cessful roll leaves the character quite sick, requir-ing from 3 days (QR 1) to two weeks (QR 3) recoverytime.

POINTS OF INFORMATION: Kronsteen has the fol-lowing points of information available.

1. Everything that occurs in Istanbul is part of oneof Kronsteen’s complex and brilliant plans

2. Kronsteen works for TAROT

3. TAROT are also manipulating the Russians aspart of TAROT’s plan to obtain the SPECKTOR

4. TAROT leader Karl Ferenc Skorpios is currentlyaboard a yacht moored near Venice

Boris Krilencu


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Cryptography (5/17), Demolitions (12/24), Disguise (5/17),Driving (8/18), Evasion (9/20), Fire Combat (12/22), Hand-to-Hand Combat (8/20), Interrogation (8/20), Stealth (7/16),Torture (12/22)ABILITIES: First AidHEIGHT: 6’1” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 185lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 37 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Plain RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 120 CARRYING: 151-210 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 2 WEAPON: Tula Tokarev

FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: Chemistry, Military Science

WEAKNESSES: Sadism

IDIOSYNCRASIES: Rarely speaks except in monosyllabic grunts;has absolutely no sense of humour; often accompanied by anunpleasant odour

INTERACTION MODIFIERS: Reaction (-2), Persuasion (-4), Se-duction (0), Interrogation (-1), Torture (-2)

BACKGROUND: Krilencu is a hired killer with anotorious passion for his work. He often works forthe Russian Intelligence agencies as a freelance as-sassin, although he has no particular allegiances tothose organisations. He is missing part of the littlefinger of his left hand, a punishment meted out by

Bulgarian heavies upset with some criminal trans-action. While unsightly, this disfigurement has nothampered his abilities as an assassin.

Krilencu is Romanian by birth, but has workedextensively throughout the USSR. In the From Rus-sia With Love adventure he has been brought in bythe KGB and SMERSH agents in Istanbul to wagetheir side of the covert war with M.I.6 (see Part III:D, The Covert War). In this capacity Krilencu willorganise the bombing of the M.I.6 Stationhouse andan assault on a number of M.I.6 meeting places andsympathizers (including the Gypsy camp).


Krilencu has operated in Istanbul on severalprevious missions. Over the years he has assassi-nated five of Kerim Bey’s best agents, including oneof his sons. Not surprisingly, Bey hates Krilencu witha passion, calling him a man who “kills for pleas-ure”. Given any opportunity Bey will try to killKrilencu to exact his revenge.

Note: TAROT’s plan in the From Russia With Loveadventure relies on several different groups perform-ing their part without any knowledge of the partsplayed by the others. Thus, while Krilencu is actingindirectly as a TAROT operative to wage war againstthe characters and their M.I.6 allies, he has no ideathat those allies are also working for TAROT. WhenBey and his Gypsy heavies attack Krilencu and theRussians, he will have no knowledge that this is partof the TAROT plan, and will react by counterattack-ing. While it may seem counterproductive for two groupsof TAROT agents to be fighting one another, this isactually a deliberate part of the plan. Once both Rus-sians and British have exhausted one another, TAROTcan snatch the SPECKTOR unopposed.

The characters will most likely encounterKrilencu in combat. His weapon of choice is the Rus-sian-made Tula Tokarev. Krilencu’s Tula Tokarev

cannot be used with a silencer. It has the followingAttributes:


0 2 8 G 0-3 7-20

CON JAM DRAW RL

0 98-99 0 2

POINTS OF INFORMATION: Krilencu has no pointsof information since he and his Russian masters arejust as much in the dark as the characters.

Rosa Klebb


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Charisma (1/15), Cryptography (13/25), Disguise (11/23), Driv-ing (10/19), Evasion (12/20), Fire Combat (12/21), Hand-to-HandCombat (8/14), Interrogation (11/23), Local Customs (9/17), SixthSense (10/22), Stealth (13/27), Torture (15/28)

ABILITIES: Connoisseur, First Aid, PhotographyHEIGHT: 5’1” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 106lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: AAGE: 49 STAMINA: 32 hoursAPPEARANCE: Plain RUNNING/SWIMMING: 45 minutesFAME POINTS: 98 CARRYING: 101-150 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 6 WEAPON: Dagger-Shoe

FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: Microphotography, Military Science,Political Science, Toxicology

WEAKNESSES: Attraction to Members of the Same Sex, Sadism

IDIOSYNCRASIES: Portrays herself as “woman of iron” by adopt-ing an imposing and intimidating sternness and tone of voice

INTERACTION MODIFIERS: Reaction (-3), Persuasion (-3), Se-duction (-1), Interrogation (0), Torture (+1)

BACKGROUND: Rosa Klebb is a respected and fearedname in Russian Intelligence circles. Born in Berlinas the daughter of the Soviet ambassador to EastGermany, Klebb was introduced at an early age tothe complicated world of espionage, double and tri-ple agents, and intrigue. As a young girl she was

fascinated by the secretive KGB and SMERSHagents who would pass through the embassy on theirway to or from missions against the decadent West.She saw how those shadowy figures lived outside ofthe laws that everyone else had to adhere to, and asa consequence how much power they wielded be-cause of that. The thought of such power and influ-ence excited the young Klebb.

From an early age, Klebb’s father ensured thatshe was firmly indoctrinated with the ideals of


communism, and a respect for the Soviet state. Morethan most others in her indoctrination classes, Rosabelieved these things with a passion.

When she was in her late teens, Klebb’s fatherunexpectedly requested an end to his German post-ing. When this was granted, the family moved backto Moscow. Rosa, like several others, was more thana little surprised at her father’s sudden request and,after subsequent investigation in the family home,she discovered that he was currently working as adouble agent for the American CIA. Furious at thisbetrayal of Mother Russia, Rosa immediately re-ported her father to the Russian counter-intelligenceorganisation SMERSH. No-one ever saw or heard ofthe former-ambassador again.

While her betrayal of her own father served toestrange Rosa from her family, it served to bring herto the attention of the spymasters at SMERSH. Theorganisation was always on the lookout for individu-als of proven loyalty to the state to become agentsor couriers. The head of SMERSH at the time per-sonally visited Rosa Klebb to make an offer two daysbefore her eighteenth birthday. She accepted the of-fer willingly, and became a junior counter-intelli-gence agent.

In the years that followed, Klebb was placed ina number of cities within the USSR and beyond, fromNovosibirsk to T’bilisi to St Petersberg to Berlin. Ineach of these placements, Klebb proved her abilitiesas a ruthless professional, hunting down foreignspies inside the USSR and flushing out Soviet agentswhich were doubling for foreign powers. In thesemissions she proved herself to be a vicious and sin-gle-minded operative, and her steady record of suc-cesses allowed her to rise quickly through the ranks.At age 35 she staged a coup inside SMERSH, re-vealing that the current head of the organisationwas on the British payroll. The end result was thatRosa emerged as the new head of SMERSH.

Following her appointment to the top job, Klebbrestructured SMERSH and turned it into an organi-sation even more feared and loathed by spies of allcreeds. She would regularly conduct massive purgeswithin the ranks of the KGB, flushing out dozens ofalleged ‘foreign sympathisers’ which were swiftly putto death. During her 14 year reign as head ofSMERSH she is known to have been personally re-sponsible for the deaths of at least two M.I.6 agents:agent 973 in Bulgaria and agent 488 in Berlin. Dur-ing this period she was also able to exercise fairlyfreely some of the darker aspects of her personality,as embodied by her ever increasing sadism. Indeed,during the last five years of her time with SMERSH,

it was regularly reported that Klebb would attendall interrogations and torture sessions her schedulewould permit, personally directing the attendantsas to what techniques to use on the victim.

In more recent times, the political climate inRussia has changed dramatically away from thehard-line idealism Klebb still adheres to. The grow-ing climate of détente between East and West wassomething she advised most strongly against. Yetthe tide of change did not stop, and Klebb becamemore and more disillusioned with the state of herown country.

Rosa Klebb’s discontent was seen by the head ofthe international terrorist organisation TAROT, whorealised quickly that with the right inducement, shecould become a powerful force against the Russians.An offer was made for Klebb to defect from Russia,and to take up a senior rank within TAROT. Simul-taneously a plan was drawn up to use this newTAROT asset to maximal advantage before news ofher defection became commonly known. Thus wasborn the Kronsteen plan at the centre of the FromRussia With Love adventure.

Klebb’s part in the plot is simple but important.She was required to make use of her renown andauthority in Russian Intelligence circles to select anagent and task them. The mission was simple: theagent should adopt the cover of a Russian operative,eager to defect to the West and willing to bring alonga piece of valuable cryptographic equipment to se-cure asylum. Klebb selected Tatiana Romanova forthis mission, in part because she had long been at-tracted to the young woman.

Note: As written, the From Russia With Love ad-venture does not involve the characters directly con-fronting Rosa Klebb. In Part IV: B, Altering the Mis-sion, options are given for including Klebb directlyin the action.

POINTS OF INFORMATION: Klebb has the followingpoints of information available.

1. Tatiana Romanova was selected by Klebb to be thebait in a trap intended to lure British agents to Istanbul

2. Klebb has recently defected from SMERSH to TAROT

3. TAROT plans to use Tatiana and the charactersto ultimately obtain the SPECKTOR for themselves

4. TAROT leader Karl Ferenc Skorpios is currentlyaboard a yacht moored near Venice


B. AlliesDonovan “Red” Grant


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Charisma (6/16), Disguise (9/18), Driving (10/21), Evasion (13/25), Fire Combat (14/25), Hand-to-Hand Combat (13/26), Inter-rogation (10/19), Local Customs (9/19), Sixth Sense (11/20),Stealth (13/20)

ABILITIES: First AidHEIGHT: 6’2” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 223lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 33 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Good Looking RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 45 CARRYING: 151-210 poundsHERO POINTS: 4 WEAPON: Walther PPK

FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: Football, ToxicologyWEAKNESSES: NoneIDIOSYNCRASIES: Cool and impassive; presents theair of an ultimate professional; chooses his wordscarefully and speaks them with an unemotional voice

INTERACTION MODIFIERS: Reaction (+1), Persuasion(+1), Seduction (0), Interrogation (-1), Torture (-2)

Note: Grant has one of the new standard issue atta-che cases described in Part I:C, Q Branch Equipment

BACKGROUND: Donovan “Red” Grant is an agentworking under deep cover as part of an extendedM.I.6 counter-intelligence mission. Because his mis-sion actually involves the investigation of M.I.6agents (in order to determine who is responsible forrecent leaks of intelligence information), he will notreveal his identity or mission to the characters un-less absolutely necessary. In the course of the FromRussia With Love adventure this will most likelymake him appear to be a villain.

Donovan Grant was born in Ireland, in the smalltown of Aughmacloy. From an early age he was of-ten involved in fist fights with other youths. Thisdelinquency caused problems in the conservativevillage, but also served to develop and hone his fight-ing skills. In these formative years, Grant also de-veloped a strong moral code: where many of hisfriends ended up joining minor criminal gangs orworse, he stuck to simply defending his own inter-ests when challenged and striking his own path.Always a loner, this choice of lifestyle separated himyet further from his peers.

After an undistinguished schooling inAughmacloy and later in Belfast, Grant took up arange of labouring jobs. He remained a physical in-dividual and occasionally would still have minorscraps over drunken arguments. Eventually he de-cided to sign up for national service, and served fora few years in a British anti-terrorist unit stationed

in Belfast. Finding this work uninspiring, Grantsought out new positions within the British Army.Eventually he succeeded in being transferred to theRoyal Corp of Signal, ending up eventually in themotorcycle dispatch service. This assignment tookhim to a number of locations around Europe, andexposed him to British Intelligence operations. Hislongest posting was to Berlin where, at age 25, hegained his first taste of the intrigue and excitementof espionage work. Although not officially assignedto an Intelligence agency, Grant was occasionallyplaced in positions where he assisted M.I.6 agentsin undertaking their missions.

Based on several good impressions during suchcollaborations, M.I.6 decided to recruit Grant to be-come an agent. At the time, M was looking to bolsterthe relatively small section that serves to monitorthe activities of the normal M.I.6 agents and to de-tect any misuse of government information. One ofthe criteria for recruitment to this counter-intelli-gence group was a lack of reputation in the Intelli-gence field, and Grant’s practical obscurity fittedperfectly.

Grant’s work as a counter-intelligence operativefor M.I.6 has taken him around the world severaltimes over the past 6 years. Most recently his as-signment has been to track down the source of anembarrassing information leak which has lead toseveral M.I.6 codewords arriving in the hands of theRussians in recent months. He began investigationsin Berlin, moved to Moscow, Hong Kong and Nas-sau, before finally unearthing enough informationto point to Istanbul as the source of the leak. Hisattention has naturally fallen on Stationhouse Toperatives and he has maintained a subtle vigil ontheir activities for the past month. In that time hehas witnessed a number of unusual activities includ-


ing Kerim Bey’s occasional trips to Venice and themore regular meetings between Bey’s eldest son anda local crime ringleader. He is presently investigat-ing both these leads.

The characters will likely encounter Grant in anumber of locations throughout the From RussiaWith Love adventure. The first such encounter willbe on their arrival at Ataturk airport (see Part III:A, Ataturk Airport) where he recognizes them asM.I.6 agents and mistakenly believes that they maybe in Istanbul to participate in the activities he isinvestigating. In addition to following his other leads,Grant will also tail them (and tail their tails)throughout much of their stay in Istanbul. Eventu-ally he will witness the characters come under at-tack from Russians and Bulgarians in the covert war(see Part III: D, The Covert War) and conclude thatthey are probably here on a legitimate M.I.6 busi-ness. He will continue to tail them, but from thatpoint will do so as a kind of “guardian angel”, aidingthe characters whenever possible (e.g., shooting fromhis hiding place or leaving anonymous messages).He will not reveal his identity at this stage, for fear

of compromising his mission. During the characters’escape on the Orient Express (see Part III: I, TheOrient Express) he will, however, lift his cover whenhe believes that the characters need his help to es-cape the train.

POINTS OF INFORMATION: Grant has the follow-ing points of information available. Although he isan ally, he will be reluctant to reveal items 3 and 4to the characters unless he has a good reason to trustthem. Alternatively, the characters may obtain thisinformation by Persuasion, Seduction or Interroga-tion.

1. Grant is a M.I.6 agent

2. During the characters’ mission in Istanbul he hasbeen tailing them, assisting where he could do sowithout blowing his cover

3. Grant is in Istanbul investigating British secretsthat have recently been sold to a foreign power

4. Grant thinks that the leak is most likely Kerim Bey

Tatiana (Tania) Romanova


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Charisma (6/11), Cryptography (5/11), Electronics (4/10), Se-duction (3/8)HEIGHT: 5’9” SPEED: 1WEIGHT: 134lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: AAGE: 28 STAMINA: 24 hoursAPPEARANCE: Attractive RUNNING/SWIMMING: 10 minutesFAME POINTS: 5 CARRYING: 101-150 poundsHERO POINTS: 2 WEAPON: None

FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: ComputersWEAKNESSES: Attraction to Members of the Oppo-site SexIDIOSYNCRASIES: blushes at the hint of any impro-priety; quite tactile with those she trustsINTERACTION MODIFIERS: Reaction (-1), Persuasion(-2), Seduction (+3), Interrogation (-1), Torture (0)

BACKGROUND: Tatiana Romanova is a somewhatgullible low-level cryptographic clerk working in theRussian Consulate in Istanbul. Her job involves tak-ing messages intended for communication back toMoscow, encoding them using special cryptographicdevices and transmitting them across regular phoneor telegraph lines. In her work she routinely has ac-cess to a new SPECKTOR decoder device, recentlyinstalled to replace older devices whose codes werebelieved to have been cracked by foreign governments.

Tatiana is, at heart, a simple girl. She was bornin Kiev as the only child of a fisherman. From an

early age she was trained for the ballet, althoughshe was forced to abandon this dream when, in herlate teens, she grew too tall – one inch over regula-tion height. Instead of schooling in ballet, Tatianawas then educated to become a clerical functionary,an attempt by her father to save his “beautiful prin-cess” from a life of manual labour. While not par-ticularly adept in complex professional skills,Tatiana proved easily able to master common cleri-cal skills. She soon found herself inducted as a clerkin an Intelligence bureau in Kiev, and after a fewyears of hard work worked her way to being offered


a more prestigious position as a cryptographic clerkperforming English decoding. Unfortunately herpromotion came at a price, she would have to moveto Moscow, leaving her mother and father behind.Naively she attempted to decline the promotion, butwas soon informed that it was not her choice to make:the state required a cryptographic clerk in Moscowand she had proven herself capable. With some sad-ness she moved to Russia and then, after two yearsworking in the central intelligence bureau was real-located again, this time to Istanbul. Tatiana has nowlived a little over a year in Turkey; she now corre-sponds with her family only occasionally.

Moving to Istanbul also brought Tatiana to theattention of the head of SMERSH Rosa Klebb, whooften visited the Russian Consulate in that city. Forreasons unknown to Tatiana, Klebb seemed to takeparticular notice of her, speaking at length to her inprivate on a number of occasions. Most recently,Klebb requested Tatiana’s attendance at a privatebriefing at which she instructed her on an impor-tant mission SMERSH required her to undertake.The assignment, vital to Mother Russia, requiredher to pose as a besotten clerk willing to defect tothe West with the top-secret SPECKTOR device.According to Klebb this ruse was part of an impor-tant trap for Britain’s corrupt secret service agents.

Tatiana will begin the From Russia With Loveadventure with an Antagonistic reaction towardsboth the West and its agents (the characters). Shewill be diligent in covering this attitude, however,as it is important to her mission to appear willing.As the adventure proceeds her attitudes may change,depending on her interactions with the characters.When Tatiana first encounters the characters, rollfor her Reaction as normal (applying the modifiergiven above). The result obtained is her apparentReaction. Her real Reaction will always begin asAntagonistic, although this can be changed by a suc-cessful Seduction attempt (re-roll Reaction with the

above-listed modifier and the normal +5 modifier).Tatiana’s Reaction after being Seduced manifests asboth her apparent Reaction, and also as her real re-action. A result of “Friendly” or better means thatshe would actively assist the characters even whensuch action would be outside her personal mission(e.g., saving their lives when they are being at-tacked).

Ironically, deep down Tatiana actually does har-bour secret doubts about all the propaganda she hasheard decrying the decadence of the West. She has aromantic soul and would dearly like to one day visitthe exotic places she has heard about and find outfor herself. Depending on the course the adventuretakes, Tatiana’s ruse of being eager to defect may bereplaced by a very real desire to escape Russia. Inthis way, even the smallest pawn might twist TAR-OT’s plans to her own advantage.

Note: Beyond the very simple instructions given toher by Klebb, Tatiana Romanova has absolutely noknowledge of the complex plot she is a part-playerin. In many ways she is merely an innocent dupe inthe machinations of TAROT.

POINTS OF INFORMATION: Tatiana has the follow-ing points of information available. The amount ofinformation which she is willing to reveal dependscompletely on her Reaction to the characters plusany Persuasion, Seduction or Interrogation they mayattempt. Use the rules at the beginning of this sec-tion.1. Tatiana is a cryptographic data entry clerk, work-ing at the Russian Consulate2. Tatiana has access to a new SPECKTOR decoder3. Tatiana was asked to play the part of a potentialdefector by Rosa Klebb, a well known figure inSMERSH4. Despite acting the part, Tatiana really does wantto defect to England

27

27

Part III:Places, Events,and Encounters

he flight from London to Istanbul takes a littleunder 4 hours, and brings the characters to

Ataturk airport, Istanbul’s international air trans-port hub. As their plane touches down, the charac-ters are treated to a spectacular view over thesprawling city, stretched over two continents andpeppered with the sky-reaching minarets of dozensof mosques. The often chaotic jumble of buildings,both ancient and modern, is split in half by a widestretch of water, the Bosphorous strait. Hundreds ofboats, small and large, can be seen bobbing on itssun-dappled waves.

The airport itself is located some 20-30 minutesdrive from the centre of Istanbul. It is a modern struc-ture complete with all the amenities and featuresone would expect of a truly international airport.Its spacious concourses, dominated by large glassand steel surfaces, are almost perpetually clutteredwith a teeming horde of passengers from all overthe world. Characters interested in obtaining a mapof the city can easily do so, either by picking up theexcellent free maps provided by the tourist office orby purchasing one from the several news-stand/to-bacconists within the terminal building (in eithercase, the Gamesmaster should provide the handoutmap of Istanbul).

Just as the characters are wondering what theirfirst step should be, having cleared customs and col-lected any baggage, they hear a mildly-accented voicespeaking their names from behind. Turning aroundthey see a young Turkish man dressed in a very el-egant grey chauffer’s outfit. “Kerim Bey sent a carfor you. Greetings, I am Taksim, Kerim’s eldest son.”Characters will recall from M’s briefing that KerimBey, head of Station House T, is to be their contact in

TA. Ataturk Airport

Istanbul, although no particular arrangements weremade for an airport pick-up. Any (justified) suspi-cion of this approach can easily be absolved by us-ing any of the current M.I.6 code phrases: regard-less of which the characters choose, Taksim knowsthe proper responses. After the formalities of identi-fication are completed, the chauffer ushers the char-acters towards the side exit of the terminal buildingwhere he says he has a car waiting.

Before leaving the airport, however, the charac-ters are observed by a striking figure seated in amezzanine-level café/bar. Success in either an EaseFactor 5 Perception roll or an Ease Factor 3 SixthSense roll alerts them to the fact that they are be-ing watched. Looking up at the smoke-shrouded eat-ing area, the characters can see a bulky blond manpartially concealed behind a Turkish-language news-paper. His pale complexion and fair hair contrastdramatically with the assembled crowd of coffee-skinned Turkish men, mostly in traditional garb, whodrink coffee and smoke in animated fashion aroundhim. From behind his newspaper, the characters cansee tell-tale glints of light reflected off the expen-sive ground lenses of a pair of ultra-compact bin-oculars.

As soon as his surveillance of the characters andTaksim has been detected, the blond man quicklypacks up his gear into a small travel bag and hast-ily makes for the rear entrance to the mezzaninelounge area. Anybody wishing to give chase finds itto be a futile exercise; by the time the café/bar areahas been reached via the long and crowd-filled stair-way, the man is long gone.

This encounter introduces the characters to Do-novan “Red” Grant who will continue to monitor their


movements for the entirety of their stay in Istanbul.Grant is a M.I.6 agent currently investigating theactions of M.I.6’s own operation in Turkey, suspect-ing that there is someone in the ranks selling classi-fied information to the Soviets. He has been routinelymonitoring the airport for some time on the lookoutfor the arrival of new M.I.6 agents. Unknowingly,the characters have become new suspects in his in-vestigation. The characters may make a recognitionroll when observing this member of their own or-ganisation, however his low fame point value (anabsolute necessitity for internal investigations)makes it unlikely that they will gain anything bet-ter than a vague sense of having seen the tall, stockyman somewhere before.

Driving to Istanbul

Following Taksim Bey from the airport build-ing, the characters soon find themselves in his luxu-rious if somewhat outdated Rolls Royce Silver Clouddriving towards the centre of Istanbul. The youngman is courteous and friendly, making small talk onthe 20-30 minute drive. He tells the characters thatthey are most fortunate to arrive today, for his fa-ther has just returned from abroad, and will be ableto personally extend his hospitality. If any surpriseis shown at a member of Bey’s family running er-

rands for M.I.6, Taksim will smile and subtly pullaside the lapel of his chauffer jacket to reveal aWalther PPK in a shoulder holster: “All of my fa-thers many, many sons work for your secret service.It is a family business.”

As the car approaches the city, Taksim says“Kerim Bey suggested that you should first come toour Stationhouse to meet him before you check intoyour hotel. I trust that will suit you.” If the charac-ters would prefer to visit their hotel first, their driverwill be happy to do that instead.

Throughout the last half of their drive, whichtakes them past ancient ruins and down narrow cob-bled streets of the old city, the characters’ car will betailed by a black Citroen Traction Avant. This willbe revealed by an Ease Factor 8 Perception roll. Ifthe characters alert Taksim to this he will chuckleto himself, “indeed … it’s quite customary in thiscity to be followed. Today it’s Citroen H31854 on duty.They’re Bulgarians, working for the Russians. Theyfollow us, we follow them – it’s a sort of understand-ing we have.” Under no circumstances will Taksimtry to lose this tail, or otherwise instigate a chasesequence. If for some reason the characters insti-gate such action, the Gamesmaster can find statis-tics for the Silver Cloud, Traction Avant, Kerim’sSons and the Bulgarian Thugs in Part III: D, TheCovert War.

B. Station House T

.I.6’s Turkey Station House is run by KerimBey and is concealed within the large car-

pet emporium he runs with his small army of sons.Taksim Bey will park the Silver Cloud at the backof the huge covered markets of Kapali Carsi and leadthe characters by foot into the chaotic bazaar. Thestructure itself dates back to medieval times, andsprawls over an area the equivalent of several cityblocks. Every square inch beneath the tall ceilingsis crammed with shops and stalls, loosely arrangedinto regions along some 65 streets. The characterswill quickly become lost within this maze of jewelrystores, clothing stores and silverware stalls.

In one of the quieter sections of the market place,in the area given over to furniture and carpet stores,the characters are ushered into a large exotic-look-ing showroom containing all manner of floor carpets,rugs and tapestries. This is Kerim Bey’s carpet em-porium. The place is quite busy, with dozens of cus-tomers, many of them tourists, carefully looking overstacks of carpets. In this endeavour they are assistedby eight young men who bear a strong familial re-

M semblance to Taksim. Ignoring the hustle and bus-tle of the store, he gestures towards the very back ofthe store. There, away from prying eyes, he throws asmall wall hanging carpet aside to reveal an unas-suming door. Taksim opens the door and ushers thecharacters into the room beyond.

The first thing the characters will notice aboutthe large room will not be its opulent décor or beau-tiful stained-glass windows, but rather the presenceof a beautiful scantily-clad woman. As they enter,Bey stands at the back of the room beside what ap-pears to be a low double divan bed. Closer, in thecenter of the room, a tall blonde woman is just fin-ishing getting into a slightly crumpled blue dress.When she notices the presence of strangers, she picksup a handbag and prepares to leave. Kerim smilesbroadly and says “My darling, don’t leave behind thebeautiful vase I bought you. I would hate to havecarried it all the way back from Venice for nothing.”She picks up a large blue-tinted vase from the largedesk by the French Windows and leaves through thesame door the characters just entered.

29PART III: PLACES, EVENTS AND ENCOUNTERS

Encountering Kerim Bey

Still smiling, Kerim Bey ushers the charactersto a couple of chairs beside his modest desk, takingup his own, more sumptuous chair on the other side.If there are any female characters he will first pulltheir chairs out before they sit, exuding as muchcharm as he can muster. Once everyone is seated hewill begin, “Welcome to Istanbul.” Immediately heoffers everyone coffee. Success in a Connoisseur rollsuggests that the proper thing is to order it “semi-sweet.” As the characters give their orders, anotherof Bey’s sons has appeared behind them; Kerim nodsand the young man departs to fetch the coffee. “Youhave already met my eldest son, ” he continues, “buthe is also my son. All my key employees are my sons.Blood is the best security in this business.”

The characters can direct the conversation anyway they wish, but as soon as the business of Tatianaand the SPECKTOR is raised, Bey will smile broadlyto himself and say, “You know my friend(s), I thinkyou are wasting your time here.” With a finger hetaps the side of his nose, “This is an old friend ofmine and it tells me that something here smells. TheRussians are very careful with their coding devices.We should know, we’ve been trying to get our handson them for years. What makes you think that thiswoman friend of yours can sneak one of these de-vices out from under their noses? Even assumingshe really wants to defect. No, my friends, somethinghere is not right.”

Bey will talk to the characters as long as theywish, offering his opinions on any local matter theyare interested in. If they question him further aboutthe Russian Consulate and their security, he willreveal that he has a secret surveillance setup he canuse to keep an eye on what goes on inside the consu-late. He can also provide further specifics, as de-scribed in Part III: G, Russian Consulate and partIII: H, Stealing the SPECKTOR. If asked aboutTatiana Romanova, Bey will confess that he doesnot know of her, although he does recognise her fromher photograph (see Part III:C, InvestigatingTatiana).

Once the conversation seems to be drawing to aclose, Kerim will recap his original statements, “Youknow, I still think this is a waste of your time. If youreally want my advice, my friend(s), you should spenda few pleasant days here in Istanbul, then … thengo home.”

While Kerim Bey strives hard to promote theimpression he is sceptical and disinterested in theTatiana affair, this is actually a façade. As describedin his NPC write-up in Part II, Bey is intimatelyinvolved in the TAROT plot to steal the SPECKTORand kill the characters. He is even more involved inthe plan to bring them into disrepute. When playing

out the encounter with Bey, Gamesmasters shouldkeep a close eye on the topics discussed. WheneverBey is called upon to out-and-out lie about his in-tentions or interests, Gamesmasters should roll anEase Factor 8 WIL roll to determine whether he wasable to conceal his true motives. If he fails in thisroll, he has either displayed more passion towards atopic than he intended, or otherwise done somethingthat hints at his true motives. Even if he makes sucha blunder, characters must still make an Ease Fac-tor 5 PER roll to notice (rolled by the Gamesmaster).Success reveals simply that Kerim seems more in-terested than he is letting on.

Investigating the Station House

Later in the mission, when some suspicion hasfallen on the role of Kerim Bey, the characters maywish to look around the Station House for them-selves. This is not easy to achieve: while Bey onlyspends 50% of the daylight hours in the office (andnone of the night), there are always at least two orthree of his sons in the carpet emporium. At certaintimes of the day and night, Taksim can also be foundin the Station House itself, using the somewhat an-tiquated radio equipment to send coded messagesto M.I.6 in London, and receive others.

While sneaking into the Station House throughthe store is next to impossible due to the vigilance ofBey’s sons, the characters may be able to gain entrythrough the French Doors leading onto the atriumgarden. These doors are always kept locked when-ever Kerim is not present and will require aLockpicking roll to open. Gaining entry by smash-ing the French Doors or stained glass windows isimpractical as the noise will immediately bring two


of Bey’s Sons from the store. Before any such strate-gies can be adopted, however, the characters firsthave to get over the 13 foot wall which separatesthe garden from the street beyond. A mountaineer-ing roll and some form of proper equipment are re-quired.

When running characters through a search ofStation House T, the Gamesmaster should refer tothe layout map in the centre of this booklet.

Apart from revealing the room’s beautiful fur-niture and half-height skirting, and discovering thesmall collection of Venetian vases concealed behindone of the curtains, a search reveals one item of in-terest. On the southern wall, hidden behind a smallwall-hanging rug is a small safe with a combinationlock. Any Safecracking roll receives a –1 Ease Fac-tor modifier; failure causes a loud siren in the outershop to sound, bringing Kerim’s Sons within 2rounds.

Inside the safe, the characters find a small bun-dle of Turkish Lira, a gold ingot, a current M.I.6codebook, two Russian handguns (from KGB agentsBey has killed), and a small gold locket containing aphotograph of Bey’s dead wife. If they have yet todiscover the chess column handout (as described inPart III: F, Investigating Grant), it will also be foundin the safe. Only Kerim and Taksim know the com-bination to the safe; one of the two will notice any-thing missing within 3 hours. Note that for each 15minutes the characters spend sneaking around theStation House, there is a 30% chance of one of Bey’sSons entering the room for some reason.

Investigating the Station House after the bombblast which largely destroys it (see Part III: D, TheCovert War) is a little easier. In the confusion sur-rounding the clean-up, the characters can easilycheck over any parts of the Station House they areinterested in. The blast rips the entire safe from thewall, further punching a fist-sized hole in the back.Characters who can find some reason to be alonewith the debris for a few minutes prior to the safebeing discovered by Kerim or his Sons, can easilycheck through the contents.

Hotel Intercontinental

Once the characters have met with Bey and dis-cussed the mission, they will want to check into theirhotel, the Hotel Intercontinental on Taksim Square(on the other side of the Galata Bridge). The hotelhas a classic air, but with modern conveniences.When the characters check in they find that theyhave (each) been given (one of) the HoneymoonSuites. Players who are very familiar with the FromRussia With Love movie may be concerned that thisroom is video monitored. It is not, and no matterhow much time the characters spend searching fordouble mirrors or peep-holes they find none. Theroom is, however, audio bugged by both M.I.6 andthe KGB. The Gamesmaster can decide on any im-pacts that overheard conversations might have onthe ongoing plot, remembering that whatever thecharacters say has most likely been heard by boththe Russian Consulate staff and Bey’s Sons.

C. Investigating Tatianane of the first things the characters will wantto do in Istanbul is to make contact with their

potential defector, Tatiana Romanova, or at least findout more about her and her offer of the SPECKTORdecoder. Neither of these, however, proves easy. Inher original letter to the characters, Tatiana is quitevague about what the agents should do once theyhave arrived in the city. While her intent is to makecontact herself at some moment convenient to whatshe perceives as Rosa Klebb’s SMERSH plan, thecharacters will probably want to make some inves-tigations before this.

Questioning Kerim Bey about Tatiana revealsfew specifics. He does not recognise her name, al-though it is usual for the Russians to actively con-ceal the identities of Intelligence operatives operat-ing within their consulate building. The only nameshe learns are those he intercepts on documents, orextracts during interrogations – the name TatianaRomanova has never come to him from either source.

Showing Bey the photograph of the attractive Rus-sian, however, brings an exclamation of recognition:he says that he distinctly remembers seeing thisbeauty on several occasions during his surveillanceof the Russian Consulate’s Meeting Hall. This, atleast, establishes that the woman in question doesindeed have access inside the consulate building,where the SPECKTOR is undoubtedly kept.

Characters may wish to discuss with Bey theiroptions for contacting Tatiana. Kerim will admon-ish extreme caution – if the woman truly is in a po-sition of responsibility affording her access to theSPECKTOR, there is little doubt that she will beunder close scrutiny from the ubiquitous Soviet Se-curity men. This surveillance will be total within theConsulate building itself, but may also extend to herhome and possibly even to public places. If the Rus-sian Security agents see Tatiana as much as talkingto a known British agent, she will likely end up un-der such tight watch that any defection attempt will

O


be impossible. Thus, any contact with Romanova, Beysays, must be clandestine, “as secret as the night.”

Predictably, any inquiries the characters makeat the Russian Consulate building (see Part III: G,Russian Consulate) are met with staunch denials.According to them, there is no such person workingwithin the city of Istanbul. An indirect effect of ask-ing such questions, however, is that monitoring ofTatiana’s movements will be slightly stepped up (todetermine why unauthorised people are asking af-ter her). Any rolls the Gamesmaster makes later todetermine the chance Tatiana is presently beingwatched by Russian Security have an additional 20percentiles added to the chance of surveillance.

Tatiana’s Apartment

One tactic that characters may wish to employin tracking down Tatiana is monitoring the frontentrance to the Consulate to witness her arrivingfor work, or leaving for the day. Persistence in sucha stake-out brings rewards: in the morning of eachweek day, a tall blonde woman – clearly Tatiana,despite the fact she is wearing her hair in a scarfeand covering her face with dark sunglasses – can beseen entering the compound at 8:45 A.M. Each dayat around 5:30 P.M. she emerges from the front gate,usually laughing with a group of other women, andwalks off down a cobbled street alone.

Characters may attempt to tailing Romanovaas she makes the 15 minute walk back to her apart-ment. Standard rules should be applied. If Tatianadetects the tail she will turn sharply to the pursu-ing character and glare, dashing into a nearby shopfront to avoid being seen with the character. If herpursuer follows into the store, he or she will receive

a hoarsely whispered rebuke, “not here, too manypeople” before Tatiana forces herself past them backinto the street. There is a 25% chance thatRomanova’s walk home (and any character interac-tion on that walk) is observed by a Russian securityagent.

If such an agent witnesses anything incriminat-ing and returns to the Consulate to tell the tale,Tatiana will have a nasty surprise in store for hernext morning. Citing concerns for her safety in thepresence of known foreign elements in the city, hersupervisors will insist she spend the next week(starting immediately) living instead in one of thesecure accommodation blocks behind the Consulatebuilding. She will not be permitted home to collectany personal belongings, everything will be providedfor her during her stay. The accommodation units inquestion, and the options for penetrating the secu-rity of the Consular compound, are described in PartIII: G, Russian Consulate.

In the instance that the characters successfullytail Tatiana all the way back to her small third-floorapartment without being seen, she quietly ushersthem into the single, rather spartan room holding afinger over her lips to indicate silence. Tatiana sus-pects, correctly as it turns out, that her apartment isbugged and will under no circumstances say anythingwhich betrays her plans. In addition, she will also pullthe blinds all the way down on every window to foilany attempts to look into the apartment from thestreet. Either by using non-verbal communication, orby employing any of the usual means of defeatingaudio monitoring (e.g., running the shower, puttingon a loud record or CD) the characters may meetTatiana properly. The encounter will run largely asper the “Tatiana Takes the Initiative” section below.


Tatiana Takes the Initiative

Eventually, despite any attempts by the charac-ters to reach her, Tatiana will arrange to make di-rect contact with them. This happens at a time ofthe gamesmaster’s choosing, and takes the form ofTatiana sneaking into the hotel room of one of thecharacters (the male agent who received her letter)and hiding herself in his bed as a ‘surprise’. Whenthe character returns to his room, he finds the dooris closed but unlocked. It is dark beyond. Switchingon the light or moving to the sumptuous bed revealsthe naked form under the covers.

Tatiana has been ordered by Klebb to seduce theBritish Agent, thus she will initiate a Seduction se-quence as soon as the character has introduced him-self. If the character attempts to discuss her letter,or otherwise talk about the plan, she whispers husk-ily into his ear, “Not now … later, someone may belistening.”

Either after the Seduction is complete, or when-ever the character becomes insistent about discuss-ing business, Tatiana pulls him by the arm into theluxurious bathroom. Running a (very loud) showershe speaks softly about her plan. “You received myletter, yes? You know about what I want, and what Ican help you get? Device is held in Consulate build-ing. I can tell whatever you need to know about build-ing, but you will need to devise plan to retrieve de-vice.” Players will probably note that this is a much

more dangerous proposition than originally outlined– Tatiana’s letter said nothing about M.I.6 havingto conduct a retrieval operation from a high-secu-rity compound. If the character confronts her, shesays, “I help from inside, but I cannot simply walkout of the building with the most valuable piece ofequipment in entire place.” It is clear that to obtainthe SPECKTOR the characters will need to performmuch of the work themselves. Tatiana, however, canobtain maps and descriptions of the most sensitiveareas inside the Consulate, and can provide somephotographs and technical specifications for the de-coder if the characters find such information useful.

Tatiana will carefully explain to the characterthat she is, like most others in her area, under fre-quent surveillance from the Internal Security men.It is critically important that she not be seen withthe character, or any other foreign national. If thecharacter is interested in meeting with Tatianaagain, either for personal reasons, or to obtain fur-ther information from her, they will need to arrangea clandestine meeting. If asked, Tatiana will sug-gest the Saint Sophia Mosque as a good semi-publicplace to exchange information by letter-drop.

Eventually, Tatiana will conclude proceedings,saying that she must leave before she is discovered.She departs with a passionate kiss on the lips andthe words, “When I am in England, we will be ableto do this all the time!”

D. The Covert War

hile the main thrust of Kronsteen’s masterplan centres upon luring the characters into

obtaining the SPECKTOR decoder for TAROT, hisstrategy also includes a second strand which willensure that the characters’ stay in Istanbul is asdangerous as it is eventful. By escalating the alreadytense situation that pervades the city’s spy commu-nity, he hopes to provoke an all-out covert war be-tween M.I.6 agents and their KGB counterpartswithin the city. Kronsteen’s motivations for engineer-ing such a violent behind-the-scenes conflict are sub-tle: by placing the city’s KGB and M.I.6 agents ateach other’s throat, both will have fewer resourcesavailable to defend against TAROT’s plans, includ-ing the theft of the SPECKTOR. Also, provokinghostility from the KGB is a guaranteed way of rein-forcing in M.I.6’s mind the legitimacy of the offer toobtain the decoder. Finally, the plan also serves toplace the particular M.I.6 agents most hated byTAROT into potentially dangerous situations, whichmay lead to their injury or disgrace (although for

the primary plan to succeed, the agents must remainalive until after the SPECKTOR has been stolen).

TAROT will anonymously fire the first shot inthe covert war shortly after the characters arrive inIstanbul. Quietly and invisibly one of the organisa-tion’s local assassins will murder a KGB agent inhis car, leaving both car and body to be discoveredparked outside the Russian Consulate building. Inthe tense climate of Istanbul’s intelligence commu-nity such a blatant act of provocation will not betolerated – retribution against the British, the long-standing enemy and only plausible culprit, will beswift and unambiguous. And that’s where the Cov-ert War really begins.

Running the Covert War

The Covert War offers gamesmasters with a sub-plot which can provide a considerable amount ofaction, and can add a considerable amount of localcolor to the character’s time in Istanbul. It is im-

W


Floorplans and Maps

Adventure Module

© Eon Productions Limited/Glidrose Publications Limited (2003)VICTORY GAMES, INC., New York, NY 10001

You may remove these maps by bending back thestaples and pulling out the center four pages

WalledCourtyardGarden

French Doors(kept locked)

Kerim's Desk

Raised Level(5' above floor)

Double Bed

Vase

Chair

Sofa

Sofa

Door toBazaar

Lamp

DecodingStation

DrinksTrolley

Carpet

Stained GlassWindow

Rug

Safe

ClockChair

= 2 feet

N

Lamp

= 3 feet

N

GuestBedroom

MasterBedroom

Study

Bathroom Kitchen DiningRoom

Open to Foyer below

Railings

To Ground Floor

Stationhouse T

Russian Consulate, Upper Floor


N

= 10 feet

30' Wall (side of Apartment Building)

20' Wall (side of M

osque)Consulate Building

Garage"Accomodation"

Units

Garden

10' Hedges

10' Hedges

Gate

Gate

Sidewalk

Sidew

alk

Road

Road

GardenCourtyard

12' Metal Fence with Barbed Wire

Sidew

alk

Russian Consulate Grounds

ReceptionKitchen

Dumb Waiter(to basement)

Female WC Male WC Female WCMale WC

Dining Room Smoking Room& Lounge

OuterOffice

DisplayRoom

TypingPool

To Basement

To UpperFloor

To UpperFloor

Consul'sOffice

PA'sOff.

GardenCourtyard

Glass Tiles (skylight)

Ball Room 2

Ball Room 1

Bar

Bar

Bandstand

CloakRoom

Storage

Foyer

= 3 feet

N

Consulate, Ground Floor


Consulate Basement / KGB Stationhouse

WashRoom

Con

fere

nce

Tabl

eW

ith C

hairs

Skyl

ight

Conference Room

Hidden Periscope Access

Fireplace

Movable MapBoard

BookCases

Cell

Cell

Wine CellarG

G

R

TV

SecurityStation

Corridor

Inte

rrog

atio

nR

oomG

urne

y

Det

entio

nR

oom To Ground

Floor

Vault

Office AreaDesk

Desk

Desk

DrugCabinet

Dining Room

Table and Chairs

DumbWaiter

Bench

Desk

Briefing Room

BlackBoards

Chairs

HatRacks

M

M

CryptoDevices

SPECKTOR

CryptoDevices

Bench

Shredder

AnalystCubicles

SafeDesk

N

= 2 feet

Key to Symbols

MMotionDetector

SecurityCamera

RKeycardReader

G GuardPost

CombinationLock

Key Lock

Key Lockleft Open

Curtain

GlassWall

Bars


Saint Sophia Mosque

0 30 feet

N

Dome

Apse

PublicEntranceImperial Door

= 10 feet

N

To Woods

To Highway

Cars

Truck

2 StoreyBuilding

DirtRoad

Tents

15' ReinforcedWooden Gate

Wall-topSentry

Wall-topSentry

Archways High in Wall (Defensive Positions)

Archways High in Wall (Defensive Positions)

Archway Partially

Submerged

Water(10-15' deep)

Wagons

FeastTable

HorseCorral

AnimalPens

Sheds

Gypsy Camp


portant to remember, however, that it isn’t the maingame – effectively everything that happens is insome ways a distraction from the main plot: steal-ing the SPECKTOR from the Russian Consulate.With this in mind, the gamesmaster needs to de-cide, based on the style of game he or she wishes torun and the level of experience and expectations ofthe players, how much ‘foreground time’ the covertwar should be given. If the players thrive on actionsequences and won’t mind spending a significantamount of time in a peripheral subplot, thegamesmaster should offer them as many opportuni-ties as possible to engage their characters in themayhem. Alternatively, if the players are focussedstrongly on the mission goal, and are unlikely to beinterested in unnecessary fire-fights and car chases,the gamesmaster should keep the Covert war largelyin the background, with reports of the events com-ing second-hand from someone like Kerim Bey. Mostgroups of players will be somewhere between theseextremes, and the gamesmaster should decide forthemselves upon a mixture of foreground and back-ground presentation of events. In all cases, however,the first event – the murder of the KGB agent in hiscar – should take place in the background, with thecharacters having no chance to directly intervene orobserve the identity of the assassin. Conversely, thescene in the Gypsy Camp (see Part III:E The GypsyCamp) should always be played out in the fore-ground: Kerim Bey will do everything he can to en-sure the characters’ participation as it is a key partof his plan to bring the characters into disrepute.

Unlike most published adventures for the JamesBond 007 Game, the action in this section is pre-sented as a set of isolated events which, apart fromthe first one (which instigates the war), can be playedout in any order the gamesmaster wishes. As de-scribed in Part I:F, Notes on the Adventure, the

gamesmaster may wish to incorporate these eventsinto his or her own flexible mission timetable, whichcan be adjusted during play to keep the level of dra-matic tension at the right tempo.

Game statistics for the participants in the Cov-ert War, and the vehicles they may employ, are pre-sented at the end of this section. The Russians arerepresented by a relatively small number of KGBagents and a larger contingent of Bulgarian thugs.M.I.6’s ranks are filled out by Kerim Bey’s sons anda contingent of Gypsy men. The exact numbers avail-able to each side are unlikely to be important – theencounters between the two are more likely to berunning battles rather than long-winded blood baths.

Event One: Death of an Agent

As described above, the Covert War is seeded byTAROT in the form of a brutal assassination of oneof the several KGB agents stationed in Istanbul. Thisevent will take place within a matter of hours of thecharacters’ arrival in the city. If possible, the TAROTassassin will choose a KGB agent who has alreadycrossed paths with the characters (such as the driverof car H31854 who tailed the M.I.6 agents from theairport) as his victim. This choice will, TAROT hopes,plant an even stronger suspicion of M.I.6 involve-ment.

The TAROT assassin will tail the chosen KGBagent for some time prior to the assassination, wait-ing for an opportunity to sneak into the back seat ofthe Citroen unnoticed. Then, while stopped at somesuitably secluded location, he will garrotte the agentbefore stabbing him multiple times. Dumping thebody in the back seat, he will drive to the RussianConsulate, park the Citroen in the street and qui-etly leave the scene. He will leave behind no obviousclues to his identity. The body will be discovered sev-eral hours by a consular official.

The events of the assassination will all takeplace in the background of the adventure, with thecharacters hearing details of it through contacts inIstanbul, such as Kerim Bey and his sons, or throughtheir surveillance of the Russian Consulate itself.Under no circumstances will they ever unearth theidentity of the assassin, or that he was a TAROToperative. If asked, Kerim will emphatically denythat the operation was conducted by M.I.6 or its al-lies, despite the fact that the Russians will be im-mediately convinced of this fact.

Event Two: The Limpet Mine

At some stage during the Russian’s retaliations(or their retaliation to British retaliations), they willdecide to personally target Kerim Bey and his sta-


tion house. To this end they will send two of theirmost experienced agents to gain entry into theatrium garden adjacent to Station House T (see PartIII:B, Station House T) and plant a limpet mine onthe wall immediately behind Bey’s desk. Unless thecharacters intervene in some way, the KGB agentswill be successful in placing this explosive, and insetting a timer detonator to explode the mine at atime most likely to find Bey at his desk.

Characters present in the Station House justprior to the time the mine is set to explode receivean Ease Factor 2 Sixth Sense roll. Success alerts thecharacter to the fact that something is about to hap-pen in the vicinity of the Station House, althoughnothing more specific.

When the limpet mine explodes it automaticallyinflicts Damage Class J on the Area Weapons Dam-age Chart, with the explosion being centred on thewall directly behind Bey’s desk. The wall itself isconstructed of a fairly light material, and offers nowound reduction. Individuals who are close to Bey’sdesk at the time of the explosion will most likelyreceive IN damage, while those at the back of theroom, near Bey’s bed will probably only suffer MWdamage.

In deciding exactly when the mine is scheduledto explode, the gamesmaster can adopt one of twostrategies. Firstly, he or she could nominate a spe-cific time and allow the action to proceed normallyup until that time, at which point everything is fro-zen and the exact position of everyone inside theroom is reckoned and damage calculated. Alterna-tively, the gamesmaster can simply choose a pointin the adventure which offers the best dramatic op-portunities, and explode the mine at that time. Withthis approach, the gamesmaster can largely decidewho receives what damage.

Depending on the style of game the gamesmasteris running, the explosion of the limpet mine mayoccur entirely off-stage, with only Bey and possiblysome of his sons present in the room. In this case,the gamesmaster can nominate wound levels forthose present and apply any Wound Points to calcu-late exactly how the various M.I.6 agents fare.

Regardless of the effects of the explosion on char-acters and other M.I.6 personnel, the mine will cer-tainly destroy a significant amount of the StationHouse itself. The entire corner of the building adja-cent to Bey’s desk area will be completely demol-ished, with Bey’s safe blown clear into the rubble.The M.I.6 Station House will obviously need to bemoved to new premises.

Event Three: Bosphorous Ferry

At some point during the Covert War, newsreaches Kerim Bey (via his surveillance of the Rus-sian Consulate meeting room) that a senior Russianexpert on electronics, Vladimir Kurchatov, will bearriving in Istanbul imminently. While Bey inter-cepts information of this sort all the time, and typi-cally does nothing more than put it on file, the cli-mate of the Covert War causes him to take moreprecipitate action in this case. He hastily assemblesa plan to kidnap the Russian in order to persuadehim to defect and/or to extract information aboutRussian technologies, including the SPECKTOR.Depending on Bey’s relationship with the charac-ters, he may explicitly request their assistance, ormay merely mention the plan in passing. In eithercase Bey will tell the characters that he believes thatalthough there is a chance that Kurchatov’s visit isrelated to their mission, it is also possible that thetiming of his visit is co-incidental.

Bey’s scheme is simple. His information is thatthe visiting expert will arrive in the city on one ofthe many tourist hydrofoils that run along theBosphorous Strait. There he will be met by a Rus-sian Consular official and two KGB operatives. Beyplans to arrive at the dock at the appointed hourwith a moderate-sized retinue of Gypsy heavies whowill engage with the KGB agents while a couple ofBey’s sons whisk Kurchatov into a waiting RollsRoyce and take him back to the M.I.6 stationhouse.

The arrival takes place during the day, at one ofthe busy tourist docks not far from the centre of Is-tanbul. Bey arrives with his group shortly before theappointed time, and spots Kurchatov as he descendsthe hydrofoil’s gangplank (after all other passengershave disembarked). The operation goes awry whenone of Bey’s sons breaks from the crowd of touriststoo early and runs towards the gangplank. A Rus-sian minder quickly grabs the Electronics expertaround the waist and hauls him back onto the hy-drofoil. A moment later the minder and two otherdark-suited figures can be seen in the pilot’s cabin.A gun is drawn, and the ferry begins to rapidly pullaway from the dock.

If the characters are not involved in this encoun-ter (i.e., it happens in the ‘background’), the sceneends here with an embarrassing failure for KerimBey and his men. The actions of the characters may,however, turn things around.

Characters searching for a means of pursuingthe escaping ferry will quickly discover that a sec-ond hydrofoil is currently berthed at the next pier.Unlike the vessel containing the Russian, this ferryis half-filled with tourists. Indeed, the boat has justfinished boarding and is awaiting its pilot (who is


standing a short distance down the pier finishinghis cigarette). Quick-witted characters can race upthe gangplank of this second hydrofoil and spirit itaway to give chase.

RUNNING THE CHASE

Despite the large size of the Bosphorous ferry-boats, each is capable of reasonable speed. Both ves-sels have identical statistics (use the statistics pro-vided for the Boeing Jet-Foil 929-115 in the JamesBond 007 Basic Game book). The gamesmastershould make a judgement call as to how rapidly thecharacters have responded to the opportunity to givechase, and determine a starting range based on that.Rapid and decisive intervention may warrant aninitial range of ‘Medium’, more pedestrian actionmay result in the chase beginning at ‘Distant’ range.

The gamesmaster should run the chase as nor-mal. The characters can either pilot their hydrofoilthemselves, or they can get one of Bey’s sons to do it.After they become aware of the pursuit, the Russiansecurity men will position themselves to fire on theirpursuers. Every second or third round of the chase,the boats will also encounter an obstacle from thefollowing table. Most may be overcome by a success-ful Trick maneuver.

1. Sharp narrow bend in the strait (EF 4)

2. Large tanker obstructing most of the strait (EF 2)

3. Shallow section of strait (EF 5 or run aground)

4. Angry American tourist tries to storm pilot’scabin

5. Sand bank (EF 2 or run aground)

6. Small flotilla of traditional Turkish fishing boats(EF 5)

If the two ferries are at close range and a fur-ther Pursue maneuver is successful, the character’scraft can pull beside the fleeing vessel. In such asituation a character can jump from one ferry to theother by succeeding in an EF 6 Strength roll (to jumpthe distance) and an EF 4 Dexterity roll (to find ahandhold on the other ferry). Failing either roll landsthe character in the water, and out of the chase.

The chase will normally end with either theRussians escaping their pursuers, or the fleeing hy-drofoil incapacitated in some way. If thegamesmaster wishes to prolong the chase, it is pos-sible that the Russians succeed in pulling up to asmall dock, there to hastily transfer Kurchatov to aCitroen. Naturally, a second Citroen is left behindfor characters to ‘borrow.’ This extended case can runall the way back to the Russian Consulate buildingif desired.

If the characters succeed in apprehending theRussian Electronics expert, the gamesmaster willhave to decide whether he actually knows anythingof relevance to the character’s mission. Like most ofthis section, his presence is not much more than ared herring, although it presents an excellent op-portunity for a gamesmaster to give information tocharacters who have missed clues elsewhere.

Event Four: Turkish Baths

As the Covert War unfolds, much of Krilencu’sattention will be focussed on discrediting or elimi-nating Kerim Bey (under the assumption that re-moving him will end M.I.6’s participation in the War).To this end, the Russian plots to assassinate thecharismatic Turk. After observing Bey’s daily rou-tine, Krilencu coldly notes that there is exactly oneperiod each day in which Kerim is without guard,and therefore vulnerable. That time is during hisdaily visit to the steam baths.

Bey likes to visit the majestic CagalogluHamami baths each morning. His normal routineinvolves a quarter-hour in the steam room afterwhich a (male) attendant gives him a luxuriouswash-down with a coarse cloth mitten (called a kese).He normally concludes with a massage, which hereceives on a marble table beneath a great and an-cient domed ceiling. Even by local standards this isa somewhat indulgent routine, although Bey swearsby it and credits it as the secret of his ‘youthful’ ap-pearance.

On the day of the assassination attempt, Kerimmakes his way to the baths at his normal time. Ifthe gamesmaster wishes to involve the charactersin the action to follow, they may be invited to sharethe luxurious appointment. As the baths are strictlysegregated by gender, female characters will likelybe separated from the areas in which the assassina-tion attempt takes place. The gamesmaster can ei-ther stipulate that such characters have no way ofhelping Bey out of his predicament, or a means canbe invented by which such characters can discoverthe plot ahead of time.

There are three different points during Bey’smorning ritual that Krilencu may choose to strike.The gamesmaster should choose which one (or more)of these options the Russian assassin adopts.

1) Krilencu may strike while Kerim Bey (andany accompanying characters) are in the steam room.One of his henchmen will noisily jam a thick pieceof piping between the handles of the steam roomdoors, effectively trapping those inside. Krilencuhimself will then adjust the thermostat on the heat-ing control (on an outside wall) to rapidly raise thetemperature in the steam room to dangerous levels.


Each round an individual is trapped in the room, heor she must make a WIL roll: for the first round af-ter the doors are jammed, the ease factor is 8, eachround thereafter it decreases by 1 (until it reaches½ at which point it stays there). Failing two succes-sive WIL rolls results in a Light Wound being in-flicted; any later pair of successive WIL roll failuresadds another Light Wound, accumulated as normal.Furthermore, any character trapped for longer thana number of minutes equal to 1/3 his or her staminavalue (i.e., 8 minutes for Stamina = 24hrs) will be-come unconscious and automatically fail any subse-quent WIL rolls.

Characters may break free of the steam roomtrap by forcing the metal door – this involves inflict-ing a Kill result. Gamesmasters should recall thatBey and the characters are most likely partially orfully naked while they are in the steam room andwill probably not have access to firearms or explo-sives. An alternative method of escape involvesclimbing the high (and slick) walls to reach a nar-row ventilation grille close to the ceiling. The climbmay be achieved by an EF 2 Mountaineering roll,while the awkward task of breaking the grill whilesuspended 20’ above the floor is an EF 4 Strengthroll. Note that the closer the characters get to theceiling, the hotter it becomes. Close to the grille, easefactors for WIL rolls to avoid heatstroke are -3.

2) A second opportunity that Krilencu maychoose for his assassination attempt occurs duringBey’s vigorous rubdown. By whatever nefariousmeans are at his disposal, Krilencu has arrangedfor the regular bath attendant to be replaced by aTurkish thug paid by the Russians. Within the clothmitten the attendant uses to rub Bey, a sharp cut-throat razor has been concealed. With the first ofhis long strokes along Kerim’s body, the thug will

inflict a Medium Wound (unless he is stopped bycharacter intervention or Bey’s success at an EF 5Sixth Sense roll). He will then attempt to use hisconcealed razor to strike at Bey’s throat. TheGamesmaster should resolve this hand-to-hand com-bat as normal, remembering again that Bey and thecharacters may have left most of their clothes andequipment in lockers before entering the bathsproper.

3) The final point at which Krilencu could strikea blow against Bey is during the massage Kerimreceives in the domed marble hall. By incapacitat-ing or killing the real masseuse and copying his ba-sic appearance using Disguise, Krilencu hopes topersonally inflict his sadistic pleasure on an unsus-pecting Bey. The Gamesmaster should roll forKrilencu’s successful Disguise attempt prior to theattempt and use the result to determine whetherBey sees through the subterfuge to see his mortalenemy. In the case that Bey suspects nothing,Krilencu will likely get a free attack with the silencedTula Tokarev pistol he has concealed in his loose-fitting robes. In either case, a combat will ensue. Thegamesmaster should again remember that Bey andthe characters may have left some or all of theirequipment with their clothes prior to entering thebaths.

Event Five: Saint Sophia

The Mosque of Saint Sophia has long been aneutral territory between the eastern and westernspy agencies operating in Istanbul. KGB and M.I.6agents both use the ancient and majestic buildingas a semi-public location for making clandestine let-ter-drops and occasionally meeting with contacts.


Each side effectively ignores the activities under-taken by the other beneath Saint Sophia’s holy eaves.This unspoken agreement has been in place for sev-eral years, but with tensions in the city escalatingduring the Covert War, it is almost certain to col-lapse in a bloody and violent fashion.

The Gamesmaster can either run the inevitableconflict at Saint Sophia as a background event, orinvolve the characters in the action. As the Mosqueis a likely location for a rendezvous between the char-acters and Tatiana, it would be a simple matter toarrange for the truce to break just as the arrangedmeeting were concluding. Alternatively, the M.I.6agents might be called upon by Bey to take part in aclandestine raid on a “known KGB meeting place.”

The conflict within the Mosque takes the formof a covert firefight between a group of two KGBagents (with 2-3 Bulgarian thugs) and a pair of Bey’ssons, possibly accompanied by the characters. Bothsides will be very eager to not draw the attention ofthe dozens of tourists present in the Mosque. To thisend both sides will use silencers, and stick mainlyto the poorly-lit wings of the building. While thedeadly conflict unfolds, the loudest sound to be heardbeneath the tall stone ceilings will be the stiltedEnglish commentary of one of the tour guides.

To play out the shadowy fight, the Gamesmastershould make use of the map of Saint Sophia in themiddle of this book. If combatants attempt to moveinto areas adjacent to the main (central) hall, theGamesmaster should call for Stealth rolls, with anEase Factor determined by the type of movement.

Slow movement in shadowed region ...... EF 6

Pursuing or fleeing in shadowed region . EF 4

Running in shadowed region .................. EF 4

Slow movement across central hall ........ EF 2With exposed weapon

Running across central hall .................... EF ½With exposed weapon

If one or more KGB agents or Bulgarians arekilled or incapacitated, the characters may chooseto pocket their identity papers (which could proveuseful at gaining access to the Russian Consulate).If more than three Russians and Bulgarians areeliminated from the fight, the remainder will retreat.Similarly, if any loud noise (e.g., an unsilenced fire-arm or an explosion) or a failed Stealth roll drawsthe attention of the tourists milling in the centralpart of the Mosque, both sides will immediately fleethe area. Any character that remains too long in-side the building after such a commotion will ulti-mately end up arrested by local police.

Event Six: Killing Krilencu

At some point during the Covert War, the char-acters and Kerim Bey will learn that the Russianside of the ‘battle’ is being directed by known Bul-garian thug Boris Krilencu. Once Bey discovers thisfact, he will become livid with rage: over the yearsKrilencu has been responsible for the deaths of fiveof Bey’s best agents, including one son. Bey callsKrilencu “a man who kills for pleasure” and vowsthat he will kill the man himself to avenge thesepast misdeeds.

To this end, Bey will (fairly easily) track downthe location of the apartment Krilencu is currentlystaying in, and begin watching his movements. Thisis a relatively easy assignment – the apartmentbuilding is located in a run-down neighbourhood notfar from the Russian Consulate, and has an entirewall (painted with a large movie advertisement) fac-ing onto a busy thoroughfare. After only a short sur-veillance, Kerim will select a location immediatelyopposite Krilencu’s apartment window (which opensin the middle of the movie poster). From this point,late one night, he will attempt to snipe Krilencuusing an AR-7 survival rifle.

Depending on the relationship between the char-acters and Bey at the point in time this event oc-curs, and the style of game the gamesmaster is run-ning, Kerim may ask the characters to accompanyhim on this grim mission.

If Bey attempts his assassination and misses,Krilencu will immediately relocate himself to theRussian Consulate, where he is much more pro-tected. Bey will, most likely then abandon his plansfor vengeance (for now).

If the characters at any stage break intoKrilencu’s apartment, either with or without KerimBey, they find themselves in a cramped and unpleas-ant space decorated in a very spartan manner. Weap-ons in various stages of assembly adorn most avail-able spaces. A thorough search of the filthy placewill unearth Krilencu’s (red) pass for the RussianConsulate building and the KGB station house – itis hidden in a gaudy tea tin. This pass will not bepresent in the apartment if Krilencu has relocatedto the Russian Consulate.

Stopping the Covert War

It is possible (though unlikely) that the charac-ters will wish to stop the Covert War by convincingthe Russians and British spies that they are beingplayed off against each other by some third party.Without any firm evidence to support such a wildtheory – and it is unlikely the characters will haveany such evidence – this is a very tough assignment.The gamesmaster should allow one character (thespokesman or spokeswoman) to make EF ½ Per-suade rolls for both Krilencu and Bey. If both suc-ceed, the two will agree to temporarily cease theirhostilities while the allegations are investigated.


KGB AGENTS


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Boating (7/17), Driving (7/17), Cryptography (10/20), Fire Com-bat (6/16), Hand-to-Hand Combat (11/20), Interrogation (10/20), Sixth Sense (4/14), Stealth (5/14)

ABILITIES: First Aid, PhotographyHEIGHT: 5’7” - 6’3” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 140 - 190lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 25-32 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Normal RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 40 CARRYING: 101-150 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 1 WEAPON: Tula Tokarev

BULGARIAN THUGS


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Driving (4/13), Fire Combat (6/15), Hand-to-Hand Combat (7/17), Stealth (6/15)HEIGHT: 5’5” – 6’0” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 185-230 lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 30-45 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Plain RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 0 CARRYING: 101-150 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 0 WEAPON: Tula Tokarev

BEY’S SONS


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Charisma (4/13), Cryptography (5/15), Demolitions (5/15), Driv-ing (5/14), Fire Combat (6/15), Hand-to-Hand Combat (4/13),Seduction (4/11), Stealth (5/14)

ABILITIES: First AidHEIGHT: 5’9” – 6’1” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 155-190 lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 20-28 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Normal RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 45 CARRYING: 101-150 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 1 WEAPON: Heckler & Koch VP-70

GYPSY ALLIES


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Driving (3/12), Fire Combat (3/12), Hand-to-Hand Combat (10/21), Riding (3/12)HEIGHT: 5’4” - 5’11” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 115-215 lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 20-60 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Plain RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 0 CARRYING: 151-210 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 0 WEAPON: Number 4 Rifle

ROLLS ROYCE SILVER CLOUD

PM RED CRUS MAX RGE FCE STR

-1 4 60 105 250 3 8

CITROEN TRACTION AVANT


-1 4 50 75 200 3 6


E. The Gypsy Camp

ithin the slowly turning wheels of TAROT’splans and their engineered Covert War, turns

another wheel: Kerim Bey’s plan to embarrass M.I.6by capturing evidence of its agents behaving inap-propriately on a foreign mission. This plan mani-fests itself during the Covert War; at some point inthat adventure, Bey tells the characters that the cityhas become too dangerous for them to remain in theirhotel. He instead suggests that, at least for one night,they relocate to a safe haven outside the city – thecamp used by his Gypsy friends. Far from being agenerous offer, however, this is actually an invita-tion to fall into a carefully arranged trap.

Once the characters have agreed to his plan, Beyarranges two cars: in the first car, a nondescriptbrown sedan a few years old, the agents and Beydrive east. In the second car, Bey’s Rolls Royce, twoof Bey’s sons plus dummies dressed as the charac-ters head in the opposite direction. This simple ploy,explains Bey, will serve to fool the Russians andKrilencu: “they will be following the wrong car forhours before they realise.”

Bey drives across the Ataturk Bridge, headingnorth-east through the Asian half of Istanbul. Slowlythe areas with built up stone buildings fade into amore rural scene. Fields and rustic farm houses passby. About twenty minutes after leaving the city be-hind, Bey pulls the car off the sealed road, down ashort dirt stretch, and pulls up beside a tall stonewall. Emerging from the car he approaches a pair oftall green wooden doors recessed into an archway.After a moments knocking one of the door opens onscreeching iron hinges and two rustic men emerge.After a brief conversation with Bey in a languagethe characters do not recognise, the men smilebroadly and embrace the M.I.6 station chief. Thesecond door is noisily opened and Bey ushers thecharacters back into his car. He then drives throughthe gates and into the walled compound beyond.

The compound occupied by the Gypsies is actu-ally the ruins of an old fort, outer walls mostly in-tact but little else. The east and west walls of thefort are punctuated irregularly by arches high aboveground level. A large archway tops the wall abovethe wooden gateway through which Bey and thecharacters entered. Two armed sentries patrol hereat all times. The southern end of the fort ruin – op-posite the gateway – bears a second arched entry,although due to some old subsidence, or perhaps justthe accumulation of years this entryway is nowmostly below ground level and flooded with water(and thus cannot easily be opened).

Most of the grass-covered rectangular regionbetween the walls is covered in a patchwork of a

dozen tents, several lacquered barrel-shaped woodenwagons and a few straw-roofed buildings of simpleconstruction. A little under a hundred gypsies livehere; as the characters arrive many can be seen go-ing about their everyday lives. Several tend to horses,while others seem to be preparing a large feast.

Gypsy Feast

As soon as Bey has parked his car within thecompound, the tall gates are pulled to a screechingclose. Several more of the gypsy men, swarthy andunshaven with kerchiefs around their necks, ap-proach Bey with a smile. After several more em-braces and joyous greetings, Bey eventually intro-duces the characters. One of the gypsies, a large manin a purple shirt, is introduced to the M.I.6 agentsas the head of the camp. Using Bey as a translator,he heartily welcomes the characters to the compoundand invites them to join him at tonight’s feast. Afterthe introductions, the head gypsy talks directly withBey for a moment, and then walks away. Bey ex-plains, “I think perhaps we have picked an inoppor-tune night to visit my Gypsy friends. At tonight’scelebrations two young gypsy girls are to have theirblood feud resolved. They love the same man, yousee. But it must be resolved the Gypsy way. We hadbest be careful what we say and do.”

Not long after darkness falls, the sumptuousfeast is served. On simple wooden tables, a bewil-dering array of exotically spiced dishes is served.Accompanying this country fare, firm-bodied gypsywomen serve a fierce aniseed liquor called raki, pull-ing the corks from the bottles with their teeth. Asthe night wears on, entertainment arrives in theform of a sensual belly-dancing routine performedby a dusky skinned woman in diaphanous veils andjangling golden coins. The heady combination of food,raki and well-toned skin may have an intoxicatingeffect on the characters, particularly those that havean Attraction to Members of the Opposite Sex.

After the belly-dancing is complete, the opengrass-covered area in front of the head gypsy’s tableis cleared. An expectant hush falls over the entirecamp. Bey leans over to the agents and explains it isnow time for the two girls to resolve their blood feud.The doors to two adjacent wooden wagons are thrownopen and from each emerges a supple-bodied younggypsy girl. Both seem about eighteen years old andhave well-toned and somewhat muscular bodies. Assoon as the two catch sight of each other, their facesbecome contorted with hatred and they immediatelyrun to attack each other. They are held back by other

W


gypsies, who drag the struggling girls to the area infront of the head table. The chief gypsy speaks tothe two girls for a moment and they cease their strug-gling. The men depart as the two girls move to oppo-site ends of the grassy circle. Each girl removes hercoloured scarf and ties it about her waist. Then, at aword from the chief, the two race forwards to en-gage one another in unarmed hand-to-hand combat.

The Gamesmaster can either relate the desper-ate struggle between the two girls in a narrativefashion, or may elect to run a few rounds of combatbetween the two. The two girls have identical statis-tics.

VIDA & ZORA, GYPSY GIRLS


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Charisma (8/18), Driving (2/12), Gambling (4/12), Hand-to-Hand Combat (10/21), Pickpocket (3/14), Riding (3/12), Se-duction (9/18)HEIGHT: 5’4” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 105 lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 18 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Striking RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 0 CARRYING: 151-210 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 0 WEAPON: None

Stopping the Fight

The fight between the gypsy girls forms the cruxof Bey’s plan to disgrace the agents. Drawing on hisown experience as an agent, he reasons that the vis-iting British agents will not be able to sit idly byand watch two women engage in such an unseemlydisplay. He is counting on the agents to intervenesomehow to stop the fight; if they do so, the remain-der of his play as outlined below can take place. Iffor some reason the M.I.6 agents seem reluctant toplay into his hand, Bey will first try subtle interven-tion to prompt the expected reaction. He will whis-per to the agents, “such a shame that such fine look-ing girls should behave in this way.” If that does notprompt a reaction, he will become more blunt, “I amnot sure that civilised men like us should be madeto see women behave in such a fashion!” If Bey’s ef-forts still come to naught, he will eventually standup and stop the fight himself by speaking to the headof the gypsy troupe.

If the characters have intervened somehow inthe fight between the girls, even if only by standingup and making it clear that they disapprove, thecamp falls silent. The girls stop their wrestling. Alleyes turn to the gypsy chief, who wears a clearlydispleased expression on his unshaven face. Againusing Bey as a translator, the chief talks to the dis-senting characters. He states that they have insulted

the entire camp by showing their contempt for theGypsy way. If they do not wish to allow the gypsiesto settle this dispute according to their tradition,then the characters themselves must adjudicate!With a smirk he says, “Yes, you must judge thesegirls for yourself.”

In the case where Bey has stopped the fight him-self due to inaction on the part of the characters, asimilar scenario unfolds. Bey will furiously talk withthe gypsy chief who will ultimately relent, statingthat the honoured visitors to the camp (the charac-ters) must judge the dispute.

While the entire conversation between Bey andthe gypsy will appear tense and fiery, it is in factanything but. Bey has in fact engineered this entirescenario: he has paid the gypsy chief a substantialamount of money to hold the fight between the girlson this particular night. The chief is actually actingunder Bey’s instructions to allow the characters toresolve the girls’ blood feud.

Once the head of the gypsies has made his pro-nouncement, the demeanors of the two girls changesdrastically. Immediately, the poisonous expressionsdisappear, to be replaced by flirting glances at thecharacters. The two hastily converge on their Brit-ish judges, fawning on them with abandon. The girlswill fetch more food for them, get more drinks, evenoffer to clean their shoes and clothes, or sew for them.Each time one girl makes an offer the other will tryto make an even more elaborate or grand offer. Itwill not be long before the two attempt to convincethe characters to return with them to one of thewooden wagons.

It is Bey’s intention that the characters shouldseduce one or both of the girls in the wagon. Both


girls’ wagons have been fitted with secret camerasthat will record the liaison, for later exposure to theworld.

If, for some reason, none of the characters takesthe initiative in seducing Vida or Zora, the girlsthemselves will likely attempt to make the first movethemselves. In this scenario, the Gamesmaster maywish to use the Seduction rules against the charac-ters to see if they can reduce the approaches of thegypsy beauties. Characters who have partaken ofthe potent raki at dinner will be easier to seduce (+1Ease Factor to the girls’ rolls), as will any who ad-mired the belly-dancing display (a further +1 EaseFactor).

The Morning Raid

Unbeknownst to Bey, his little scheme at theGypsy Camp is rounded off by an event not at all ofhis planning. While Bey’s plan to trick the Russiansby fitting his Rolls Royce with dummies succeededin fooling some of Krilencu’s men, a few also observedthe second car and ultimately guessed Bey’s real lo-cation. Overnight, Krilencu and his men have drivenfrom Istanbul to the Gypsy compound in a largetruck. Just after dawn, when the camp is only justbeginning to stir, they strike. The peaceful morningsilence is shattered by the splintering sound of thelarge truck being driven straight through the twowooden gateways protecting the camp. So rapid isthis assault that the gypsy sentries have no time topre-warn those inside. Immediately after the truckhas broken through the gates, it pulls to a halt, nar-rowly avoiding crushing Kerim Bey’s car. Krilencuand eight of his men emerge, and immediately at-tack the surprised gypsies.

Krilencu’s main objective at staging this brazendaytime raid is simply to kill or maim Bey and thecharacters, as perpetrators of the Covert War. Anyof the hated gypsies that are eliminated during theraid are pure bonuses.

The gypsy men will fight hard to defend theircamp, and the combat will quickly grow to be a largeone. The Gamesmaster can run the whole thing as ahuge combat, with Bey, the characters and a dozenor so gypsies on one side and Krilencu and his thugson the other. This will probably be a time-consum-ing battle to run. Groups which are less combat-hun-gry may appreciate a more narrative approach wherethe Gamesmaster describes the overall flow of thebattle and runs a few spot combats involving theprincipal characters. Statistics for Krilencu’s menand the gypsy men can be found in Part III: D, TheCovert War.

At some point during the combat, theGamesmaster should call for all characters to make

a PER roll at Ease Factor 5. Any who succeed willspot a familiar blond figure – Donovan Grant – nes-tled in one of the high archways along the Westernwall. In the heat of the battle it will prove impossi-ble to tell exactly what Grant is doing. In reality, hewill most likely do little more than observe – likeKrilencu and his mob, he has tracked Bey and thecharacters here despite their ruse. If any of the char-acters are having a tough time, and appear to be inserious danger from Krilencu’s men, Grant may de-cide to intervene by sniping one or more of the Bul-garians from his high perch. In any instance, Grantwill ensure that both during and after the combathe cannot be captured or interrogated by either party.

Eventually the raiders will be overcome by thesuperior numbers of the gypsies. As soon as two ormore of Krilencu’s men fall, either killed or inca-pacitated, the reminder will flee back to the truckwhich will reverse back through the gate and es-cape. A search of the fallen Bulgarians discoversnothing more than their identity papers and consu-lar passes (although the latter may be of interest tothe characters).

Depending on how the combat proceeded, theremay be several injured gypsies and some or all ofthe characters may have sustained wounds. Bey alsomay have been hurt, although he should not havebeen killed during this conflict. The gypsy chief alsosurvives the raid. If the characters fought againstthe Bulgarians, he will be firmly of the belief that itwas the actions of the brave British agents thatturned the tide in the battle. He magnanimouslyagrees to forget all about the earlier slight the char-acters made to his people. If the characters’ actionswere truly remarkable, the chief will slap each ofthem on the back, proclaiming them to be “truegypsy”.


F. Investigating Grant

hroughout much of their time in Istanbul, thecharacters will be under the watchful eye of

the M.I.6 counter-intelligence agent, Donovan Grant.Initially, this surveillance will be motivated by asuspicion that the characters may be part of an in-side operation to sell classified information to theRussians (actually a crime of Bey’s). After watchingtheir movements for a while, Grant will most likelychange his opinion once he witnesses the charactersbeing threatened or attacked by the Russians or Bul-garians in the Covert War. Even after he has decidedthey are honest agents, Grant will still not revealhimself for fear of breaking his deep cover. He willhowever work to help the characters wherever pos-sible, for example by sniping Bulgarians who are justabout to injure a character.

The gamesmaster should arrange to have Grantappear in the background of several scenes the char-acters encounter in Istanbul. While subtlety shouldbe exercised in staging such appearances, it is im-portant that the characters gain the sense on sev-eral occasions that a mysterious blond man is fol-lowing them. The situations in which Grant issighted should probably be orchestrated such thatthe characters have no real opportunity to chase orattack him. Use the encounter in the airport (PartIII:A, Ataturk Airport) as a template. If Grant is evercornered by the characters he will deny any knowl-edge of them, claiming to be a simple sightseer inTurkey on vacation. Under no circumstances shouldthe gamesmaster allow Grant to be killed during thispart of the mission: he is destined to play an impor-tant role later on.

Asking Bey

Characters who feel uneasy at the frequent andelusive appearances of the mysterious blond manmay seek to find out more about him by questioningKerim Bey. Kerim knows only that the stranger hasonly been in Istanbul for a couple of weeks, but hasspent most of that time watching arrivals and de-partures at the airport and train station. He has alsobeen seen monitoring comings and goings from Bey’scarpet stall. While he has no idea who this man is,Bey will do his utmost to give the impression thathe is a threat to the characters, and indeed is ac-tively out to place them in peril. His motivation inpainting such a picture is simply to set this blondman up as a threat which can be used to draw at-tention away from any unsavoury actions Bey him-self deliberately or accidentally undertakes.

Intercepted

On the second day of the characters’ stay in Is-tanbul, Kerim Bey will contact them to inform themthat he fears that someone is monitoring their ac-tivities. Indeed, his regular surveillance of the nor-mal frequencies used for coded communication haspicked up a transmission, which his eldest son wasable to decode. The message, which is provided as aplayer handout, seems to describe the movementsof the characters. Bey has no idea who sent thismessage, or to who it was destined, although if theseeds of doubt about Grant have already been laid,Kerim will be sure to hypothesize that he may wellhave been the culprit.

The message was indeed sent by Donovan Grant.It was a regular communication sent to M.I.6 in Lon-don describing his observation of the characters’arrival in Istanbul and noting that they may be in-volved in the affair he is investigating. The messagewas encoded with one of M.I.6’s normal codes, whichexplains how Taksim Bey was readily able to breakit. Any character with the Cryptography field of ex-perience who examines the transcript and who suc-ceeds in a EF 5 PER roll recognises phrases com-monly used in M.I.6 coded messages.

The Chess Column

At some point during a meeting between thecharacters and Kerim Bey, a seemingly inconsequen-tial event will occur – somehow, by accident, a yel-lowed piece of paper will fall from one of his pocketsto land on the ground or a table. The paper might becaught in Bey’s handkerchief when he pulls it out ofhis pocket, or it might fall from his wallet when hepays the bill at a local restaurant. Regardless of thecircumstances, the characters gain a glimpse of acolumn torn from a newspaper, apparently report-ing the result of an important chess match or tour-nament. This would normally seem to be an utterlyinsignificant find, except for the fact that the news-paper column has been heavily annotated by handin black pen, with several moves circled and themessage “COME TO VENICE TO RECEIVE YRMISSION – #3 ” written along the bottom. The unu-sual chess column is provided as a player handout.

The true significance of the paper is that it is adecoded message from TAROT to Kerim Bey, callinghim to a meeting on Karl Ferenc Skorpios’ yacht,currently moored in Venice. It was at this meetingthat Bey received his final instructions for his partin the TAROT plan. Kerim should have destroyed

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the paper but, distracted by his anguish at recentdevelopments, evidently did not.

When the chess column is accidentally revealedby Bey, his first reaction internally is that this hasmarked him as guilty. His swift mind, however,quickly latches onto a plan. The gamesmaster shouldmake a EF 5 Charisma roll for Kerim – if he suc-ceeds, his temporary moment of panic is sufficientlysmoothed over by his confidence and silver tongueso that nobody notices. He immediately works toimprovise a tale which will draw suspicion away fromhimself and cast it onto someone the characters al-ready suspect – the blond stranger who has beenfollowing them. The gamesmaster can decide upon

the exact story weaved by Kerim; one possibility isthat he will calmly say that this paper is somethingthat one of his sons found in a telephone box shortlyafter it was vacated by the Blond stranger, who hewas tailing.

By tailoring exactly how credible Bey’s concoctedstory actually is, the gamesmaster can control thelevel of suspicion the characters will have of Bey.While this event should certainly leave some doubtin the characters’ minds about Bey, pointing too muchsuspicion his way could cause later sections of themission (mainly Part III: I, The Orient Express) torequire some significant retooling.

G. Russian Consulate

he Russian Consulate in Istanbul is one of thekey locations in this adventure. Located in the

old city, a few narrow streets away from the majes-tic dome of the Saint Sophia Mosque, the building isused for legitimate consular business as well as less-official business. The basement of the building isactually a hidden stationhouse for the KGB, fromwhich they run Soviet espionage operations through-out Turkey and beyond. As a relatively major re-gional stationhouse, the hidden KGB basement isequipped with the latest in Russian communicationsand coding equipment, including the SPECKTORdecoder (used only occasionally, for the most secre-tive of communications). It is this decoder that thecharacters will be trying to obtain as their primarymission objective. Retrieving the device, however,will be complicated by the numerous security de-vices and armed guards which protect the KGB in-stallation, as well as the fact that access passes arerequired for many areas in the building. A cleverplan will be required (see Part III:H, Stealing theSPECKTOR for some of the possible approaches).

Physical Description

The Russian Consulate building is a large two-storey mansion built in a Western style which clashesterribly with the ancient Turkish buildings whichsurround it. Sited on the corner of two relatively busystreets, the building itself is surprisingly difficult tosee, hidden as it is behind lush green gardens thatsurround it. This, coupled with the tall metal fencestopped with barbed-wire protecting two sides of theblock and tall concrete walls protecting the othertwo, lends the place a distinct aspect of secrecy.

There are two gates in the formidable perim-eter: a pedestrian gate at the front admits individu-

als who have legitimate business with the RussianConsul or his staff. Around the corner from this gate,a second entrance permits vehicular access, usuallyjust providing a means of the official consular vehi-cles getting to and from the garage at the rear of thecompound. Both gates bear the distinctive logo of asickle circled by laurel wreaths, and are each guarded24 hours a day by an armed guard.

MAIN CONSULATE BUILDING

The ground floor of the Consulate buildinghouses the administrative offices of the Consul,Vladimir Spassky, and his staff, as well as contain-ing expansive and majestic areas for entertainingforeign dignitaries and the like. Most areas on thisfloor are restricted, meaning that individuals areonly permitted access if they hold a blue or red ac-cess pass. The exceptions to this are the receptionarea and the main administrative office (markedOuter Office on the map in the centre of this book-let) which may also be accessed by means of a “Visi-tor” pass issued at reception. It is quite common forordinary people to come and go from these parts ofthe Consulate, either to arrange visas for travel toRussia (if not Russian) or to get replacement pass-ports (if Russian), or for a variety of other routineinquiries. Because of the frequency of such “Visitors”,it is quite quick and easy to obtain such a pass – thestaff at the Reception desk require only a name andthe nature of the applicant’s business. Note thatbeing found in a restricted area of the building withonly a “Visitor” pass is treated as a serious offence,and will almost certainly result in the charactersbeing handed over the KGB.

The second floor of the building is smaller andless grandiose in décor. Spassky himself lives on this

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floor. There is also a guest bedroom which can beused for housing visiting dignitaries from Russia; atpresent it is empty.

THE ACCOMMODATION BLOCKS

Behind the main Consulate Building, nestledbetween the garage outbuilding and the lush greensculptured gardens, stand four transportable-stylebuildings used for temporary accommodation of ad-ministrative or security personnel. The buildings areof plain and functional construction, sparsely fur-nished with old, faded furniture and cracked fittings.Each of the four buildings has barred windows andis secured by two cameras and a motion-detector(whose signals are sent to the main guard console inthe KGB stationhouse). This security is nominallyto protect those housed in the accommodation blocksfrom danger, although it is more often used to turnthe accommodation block into a temporary deten-tion centre.

In the course of the adventure, Tatiana’s clan-destine meetings with the agents may come to theattention of the KGB or the Consul. In either case,the cryptographic clerk will be invited to stay for afew days in one of the accommodation units, to pro-tect her from “undesirable foreigners who seem tohave an unhealthy interest in her.” Such an invita-tion cannot, of course, be refused. Indeed, if such asituation arises, Tatiana will not even be permittedto return to her apartment to pick-up clothes andthe like. Instead a Bulgarian agent will be dispatchedto search the place and bring back the requesteditems.

If Tatiana becomes detained in an accommoda-tion block, the characters may wish to break in andrelease her prior to their flight from Istanbul. Such

an operation will be risky: see the “Getting In” sub-section below to determine the number and locationof guards in the compound. The security systems areidentical to those found in the KGB Stationhouse,and may be bypassed or deactivated in an identicalfashion (see the section below).

The KGB Station House

The basement of the Russian Consulate housesan extensive KGB stationhouse, one of the Soviets’larger spying centres for the region. The place dis-plays an air of functional unsophistication – the wallsare painted grey and, like the ceiling, are criss-crossed with numerous pipes and runs of bare elec-trical wiring. Access to the basement is quite tightlycontrolled: only those with a red access pass will beallowed past the guard station at the foot of the stair-well. The guard which mans this station has beenordered to shoot to kill anybody acting suspiciously

Despite its primitive appearance, the KGBstationhouse actually houses a large assortment ofstate-of-the-art devices, including many securitycameras and sensors. The locations of the varioustypes of security devices are shown on the map. In-formation from all security sensors is fed to the mainguard console, located just outside the communica-tions centre. Characters may, of course, wish to by-pass or deactivate some or all of these security de-vices.

1. The security cameras located around the base-ment (and also outside the accommodation blocksbehind the consulate) can be disconnected from thepower by an EF 5 Electronics roll; alternatively theycan be destroyed with a bullet or any blow whichcauses a Light Wound or better. Note that the cam-eras have an effective range of about 10 metres.

2. The motion-detectors in the skylight (and out-side the accommodation blocks) are more difficult: abullet or blow will certainly stop them from operat-ing, but will also sound the alarm throughout thecomplex. Properly deactivating such a sensor in-volves approaching the sensor extremely slowly (aEF 2 Stealth roll is required) then succeeding in anEF 4 Electronics roll. Note that the motion-detec-tors have an effective range of 4 metres; this meansthat in the skylight region there is a very narrowsection between the sensors that is not monitored.

3. The key-locks throughout the Consulate andKGB Stationhouse can be readily opened with a nor-mal EF 5 Lockpicking roll.

4. The combination locks found on several filingcabinets and the main vault in the KGB Stationhousecan be opened by a Safecracking roll at EF 4.


5. The pass reader protecting the door to the com-munications room is very secure – an EF 4 Elec-tronics roll can deactivate it, jamming it closed. Tobypass the reader and open the door, a charactermust succeed in both an EF 3 Electronics roll and aEF 3 Lockpicking roll.

Deactivating or destroying one or more of thesecurity devices in the KGB stationhouse will even-tually be noticed by the guard manning the mainguard console outside the communications room.Every two minutes after the first such system hasbeen eliminated, the gamesmaster should roll a Per-ception roll for the guard on duty (use the statisticsof an average Bulgarian thug as found in Part III:D, The Covert War). The Ease Factor is determinedby the number of systems that have been knockedout: for one system, the roll is EF 4, each additionalsystem the characters eliminate adds 2 to the EF upto a maximum of 10.

Note: Depending on the exact time period you havechosen for running the mission (see Part I: B, TheTemporal Setting) you may wish to change the de-scription of the various security devices to seem moreor less high-tech. In the 1950s, for example, the cam-eras should be boxy and issue an irritating hum,while in the modern day, most of the devices shouldbe sleek and highly computerised. In any case, thedifficulty of bypassing or deactivating the devices willremain the same.

THE COMMUNICATIONS STATION

The KGB stationhouse includes an extensivecommunications station which serves both as an in-terceptions station for British and other foreign com-munications, and also as a secure facility for com-municating information to Moscow. Access to thecommunications station is even more restricted thanentry into the KGB stationhouse – only those with aspecial red access pass with a golden sickle imprintwill be able to open the door to the station, by run-ning their pass through the reader next to the door.

The room is dominated by a cluster of perspex-walled cubicles in which sit Russian and BulgarianKGB radio operators and transcribers. Off to the sideis a somewhat larger and more comfortable cubicleat which sits the “watch commander.” The commu-nications room is staffed with a commander and fourradio operators 24 hours a day.

Around the walls of the communications roomstand numerous book shelves and filing cabinets,holding a range of documents in several languages.These include foreign dictionaries, code books andintercepted communications. Off to the side of theroom is a lock-up vault which houses the daily sets

of code-words as well as details of all KGB recentand current operations throughout the Balkans.

Along the West wall of the communications roomstands a long table which houses several bizarre-looking electronic devices. These are all Russiancryptographic hardware: encoders and decoders. TheSPECKTOR sits on this table amid the tangle ofwires and flashing lights. Unless characters havereceived a detailed description of the device fromTatiana, or have Tatiana with them, their chancesof picking the SPECKTOR from amid the sea of high-tech coding devices will be slim. Characters mustmake a PER roll to determine which device is theirtarget: the Ease Factor will depend on the amountof information they have about the decoder. Armedwith a basic description of the device, the charac-ters’ EF is 3, detailed notes from Tatiana describingthe decoder and its location might make the EF ashigh as 7. Players who state that their charactersare recollecting the M.I.6 dossier photograph of theSPECKTOR gain an additional +3 EF. If the char-acters have no reliable information the, charactersshould still be allowed an EF 1 Sixth Sense roll tosee whether their “gut feelings” can single out theall-important device.

Depending on the course the mission has takenprior to the characters breaking into the KGBstationhouse, the Russians may have become awarethat M.I.6 agents have been expressing interest inthe SPECKTOR. If such has occurred, the extrac-tion of the device will be more difficult due to addi-tional guard patrols. Furthermore, the head of theBulgarian thugs, Boris Krilencu, will be present (as-suming he is still alive) within the communicationsroom to provide additional security. This gives thegamesmaster an ideal opportunity to turn the theftof the SPECKTOR into a final showdown betweenthe characters and Krilencu. For dramatic effect,


Krilencu will most likely wait until the charactershave just located the SPECKTOR then emerge froma hidden place (maybe the vault). By his nature heis not the type of villain to give a long-winded mono-logue; instead he will just attack.

THE MEETING HALL

The other large room within the KGBStationhouse houses the sumptious and spaciousmeeting hall the Consul uses to convene secret meet-ings with visiting KGB officials and his own Bulgar-ian thugs. The hall is dominated by a large polishedwood meeting table, with seating for eight. Fourraised areas in the corners of the room provide ad-ditional seating for “observers.” Maps and diagramscover the walls.

Despite being some metres underground, themeeting hall is partially lit by natural light. Thenorthern wall is a large plate glass window beyondwhich is a long narrow area with a glass-tile ceiling.The glass tiles are part of the large courtyard situ-ated immediately behind the central wing of themain Consulate building. With some care, individualtiles can be lifted allowing entry into the narrowskylight area, although this space is protected bytwo motion detectors. Characters who attempt to usesuch means to enter the meeting hall will need toget past the sensors and also to cut their way throughthe 1cm thick plate glass wall (a special cutting de-vice will be required; the less subtle approach of us-ing bullets is dangerous – five kills will shatter theglass, but there is a 20% chance that a character ishit by a ricocheting bullet for a wound equivalent toa QR 3 hit with the weapon).

Another notable feature of the meeting hall isthe large fireplace in the Eastern end. Located im-mediately behind and below this fireplace is KerimBey’s secret observation station. From this sewerlocation he can raise a periscope into a hidden chan-nel in the fireplace itself and observe (but not hear)the meetings which occur in the hall. Bey can reachthis surveillance point by traversing various under-ground tunnels and poling a flat bottomed boatacross the Sunken Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnici) builtthousands of years ago by the Emperor Constantine.If the characters express any interest in goings onat the Russian Consulate, Bey will suggest they ac-company him to the observation point to check upon the KGB. The gamesmaster should determinewhat the characters witness based on his or her time-table of events. The most likely sight they will ob-serve is a meeting between the Russian ConsulSpassky, his paid thug Krilencu and the head of So-

viet Security in Istanbul, Benz. If it suits thegamesmasters timetable, the characters may alsosee Tatiana briefly enter the room to hand a decodedmessage to the Consul or Krilencu before leaving.

THE CELLS AND INTERROGATION ROOM

The KGB Stationhouse has a small interroga-tion and detention area to the West of the main en-trance stairs. The detention room has two basic cellswith standard key locks and is monitored by twosecurity cameras. Characters captured by Bulgar-ian or Russian agents during their time in Istanbulwill almost certainly end up in these cells.

The interrogation room is adjacent and consistsof little more than a table and two chairs. Capturedcharacters can expect to spend a considerable timein this room, being interrogated by Krilencu to re-veal their mission. Krilencu will make only one In-terrogation attempt – if the character or charactershave not revealed the information he seeks, he willmove on to more direct means, employing his fear-some Torture skill.

Behind a curtain is a gurney to which Krilencuand his KGB operatives can strap uncooperativesubjects and inject a Scopolamine/Morphine mixturebefore attempting Torture. This is dangerous: on aroll of 95 or greater, the victim of a Scopolamine in-jection dies as a result of toxic overdose of the drug.For each additional Torture attempt beyond the first,there is an increase of 10 percent in the chance ofthe victim dying; for example, on the third attemptat Torture involving Scopolamine, the victim will dieon a roll of 75 or greater. A character may expendHero Points to survive rolls which would otherwiseindicate his or her death. Krilencu will at this stageconclude (quite correctly) that the drug is no longerof use in further interrogations. Scopolamine usedin conjunction with Morphine is worth a +3 modi-fier to a Torture attempt.

OTHER AREAS

The KGB Stationhouse also contains a large of-fice area where the more routine aspects of running asecret spying facility are administered. It also housesa briefing room, used in this adventure primarily tohold regular mission briefings for the Bulgarians whoare fighting for the KGB in the Covert War (see PartIII:D, The Covert War). There is also a dining roomand cellar area, both of which get used only occasion-ally when secretive VIPs visit the Consulate.


Getting In

Characters arriving at the front gate of the Con-sulate during normal office hours (9AM to 2PM and3 PM to 7 PM) will be challenged by the armed guardwho mans the entrance. If they can provide a plau-sible reason for being admitted – applying for a Rus-sian Visa, or requiring a replacement passport, forexample – they will be ushered through the heavymetal gate and directed to the verandah of the mainbuilding. The guard will return to his post, assum-ing the characters will follow his directions to themain entrance.

If the characters enter the main building, theywill immediately find themselves in the spartan re-ception chamber where they will again be questionedas to their business. They will be forced to sit forseveral minutes on hard wooden benches while theirparticulars – name and nature of business – are re-corded. They will then be given a green “Visitor” passand directed to the west wing corridor and told tofollow the passage to the second door on the left.Characters who follow this direction find themselvesin the grandiose outer office where they will be againtold to be seated, and that a consular official will bewith them shortly. It is inevitable that characterswho wait to see one of the minor Russian bureau-crats will be sitting for well over and hour beforebeing granted an audience. The official will be stiff,formal and inflexible in all his dealings and will seekto get the characters to leave as soon as possible.

Characters who use their access during daylighthours to snoop around in places they are not sup-posed to will find it relatively easy to do so. Duringthe day the grounds are not patrolled by guards.Inside the building there are many consular staff,all of who should theoretically challenge anyone whois not wearing a pass (or who is wearing a green“Visitor” pass outside of the designated visitor ar-eas) although in practice most will not notice, par-ticularly if the characters appear to know what theyare doing. Characters who are in the building with-out proper authorisation who are discovered (e.g.,because they are acting suspiciously) will be chal-lenged and detained by the civilian staff. Eventu-ally the guard from the rear gate will come into thebuilding to take control of the situation. Dependingon their actions, such characters may be ejected fromthe Consulate, arrested and handed over to the po-lice, or quietly passed to the KGB agents resident inthe building’s basement. In any event the guard fromthe rear gate will ensure that he returns to his postwithin 5 minutes.

At night time (and during the lunch break whenthe Consulate is mostly deserted) security aroundthe grounds is tighter. As well as the guards occupy-ing the two gates, there are another two guards who

individually patrol the grounds, one making a clock-wise sweep around the building, the other followingan anti-clockwise path. It takes each guard to ap-proximately 7 minutes to complete a circuit. Thegates themselves are of a strong metallic construc-tion and are secured at night by a heavy mechanicallock (EF 2 Lockpicking roll to open). The fences area little over 11 feet tall and topped with barbed wire,while the stone walls which mark the northern andeastern perimeters are 15 feet tall (each forming therear wall of an ancient block of uneven apartments).

The entire basement area (the KGBStationhouse) is guarded 24 hours a day: one guardis located at the bottom of the stairwell, and willpermit only holders of the special red access passesto enter. Another guard is stationed in the large cor-ridor, while a third is located in the security consoleroom immediately outside the communications room.

All guards in the Consulate compound have iden-tical statistics to the Bulgarian thugs listed in PartIII:D, The Covert War. Guards manning the entrancegates and patrolling the grounds all have blue Con-sular access passes, while those in the secret KBGbasement area all have red passes. Only the guardmonitoring the security console holds a pass grant-ing access to the communications room (red with agold sickle). All Consular and KGB guards operateon 8 hour shifts; at any time there are usually 4 off-duty guards resting or sleeping in the rearmost twoaccommodation units.

THE CONSUL’S BALL

Another option for gaining access to the build-ing after hours is to arrange an invitation to one ofthe spectacular balls the Consulate holds every Fri-day night. These are formal affairs at which stylishdress is the norm, as are an enticing array of exoticcocktails and even more exotic women. Spassky, theConsul, hosts these celebrations primarily as a per-sonal excess, although they also serve as a usefulcover for clandestine meetings and drop-offs. Theguest list to one of Spassky’s balls is drawn fromvery influential local figures and any and all Rus-sian officials stationed in (or just visiting) Istanbul.Even Krilencu attends such social occasions, al-though he spends most of the evening standing alonein a corner looking uncomfortable in his ill-fittingsuit and scrutinising those on the dance floor.

Getting an invitation to the Consulate Ball isnot easy. The characters can attempt to gain inclu-sion on the exclusive list by impersonating an im-portant Russian official (success in an EF 2 Disguiseroll will fool a Consular official, tricking the Consulhimself requires an EF 1 roll). Alternatively, brib-ing or seducing one of the officials responsible forcompiling the list might suffice. If the characters are


eager to attend but cannot come up with a plan, agenerous gamesmaster might allow Kerim Bey topull some strings (if Bey succeeds in an EF 3 Per-suade roll the characters are in).

Vladimir Spassky, Russian Consul toTurkey


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Charisma (11/20), Driving (2/12), Gambling (2/12), Hand-to-Hand Combat (2/9),Local Customs (13/23), Pickpocket (10/19),Riding (4/14), Seduction (12/22), Sixth Sense (4/15)ABILITIES: ConnoisseurHEIGHT: 6’3” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 230lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: AAGE: 64 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Plain RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 52 CARRYING: 101-150 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 1 WEAPON: Tula Tokarev

IDIOSYNCRASIES: Speaks with a silver tongue, but cannot coverthe fact that he is insincere about most things. Scratches backof neck regularly.

INTERACTION MODIFIERS: Reaction (0), Persuasion (-1), Se-duction (-1), Interrogation (+3), Torture (+3)

FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: Economics/Business, Fine Arts, Inter-national Law, Law, Political Science

WEAKNESSES: Claustrophobia, Gambling

BACKGROUND: Vladimir Spassky has been the ap-pointed Russian Consul to Turkey for the past fiveyears. Prior to this appointment he held a numberof minor diplomatic positions in Moscow, most ofwhich he was forced to resign from following accu-sations of theft. Spassky’s problems in the past havestemmed from his insatiable appetite for gambling,something which has kept him constantly in debt.

Part of Spassky’s duties in Istanbul include therunning of the KGB Stationhouse situated in thebasement of the Consulate building. In conductingthese responsibilities as spy-master he prefers totake a ‘hands-off ’ approach, relying heavily on Bul-garian thugs to conduct most of the operations inthe city. To deal with the special threat posed by theM.I.6 agents in Istanbul, he has chosen to bring in anotorious killer, Boris Krilencu, who has performedseveral dirty jobs for him in the past.

H. Stealing the SPECKTOR

Unless the characters have gone completely offtrack, or have forgotten the aim of their mission, theiradventures in Istanbul will eventually focus in onthe task of liberating the SPECKTOR decoder fromthe basement of the Russian Consulate building. Asdescribed in the previous section, this task is some-what complicated by the relatively tight securitysurrounding the Consulate (and in particular theKGB stationhouse in its basement). Balancedagainst this, however, is the fact that the charactershave indirect access to an informed insider – Tatiana– who can provide details of the various securitymeasures, thereby allowing them to plan a break-inwhich will go unnoticed.

Plans and Blueprints

Characters who dive in and attempt the break-in without having any prior information about thebuilding they have targeted will likely find theirassignment heavy-going. Indeed, such approacheswill more likely than not end in failure. To avoidsuch an outcome, the gamesmaster should encour-age players to put some forethought into planningthe perilous operation the characters will be under-taking. The first step in such planning will almostcertainly be gathering information about the targetbuilding. This can take the form of a legitimate (orless-than-legitimate) visit to the Consulate; see Part

III: G, Russian Consulate for means of getting intoand out of various parts of the secured building. Al-ternatively, the gathering of information about thebuilding can be undertaken in a more indirect man-ner by seeking out plans and blueprints for the struc-ture (in particular the basement area, which thecharacters are likely to know holds the SPECKTOR).

Like most buildings in Istanbul, the RussianConsulate building has original architects’ blue-prints lodged with the city’s government adminis-tration offices. If asked, Kerim Bey will know this,and will also volunteer to undertake the complexadministrative process of requesting a copy of theseoriginal plans. The offices are open only during nor-mal working hours (9 AM – 2 PM and 3PM – 7 PMweekdays) and there is usually a long line snakingaround the smoke-filled windowless office. Any re-quest for the Consulate blueprints will succeed on aQF 3 or better result on an EF 5 Local Customs Roll.The amount of time before the copy is ready can vary:normally such requests take a full day, although thiscan be shortened with a QF 2 or better Persuaderoll (bribes grant a +2 modifier). With a QF 2 result,the papers are available in 6 working hours, a QF 1result means they are ready in 3 working hours.

If the characters request blueprints for the up-per floors of the Consulate building, thegamesmaster should describe a fairly nondescriptconfiguration of rooms and corridors. There is noth-


ing particularly noteworthy. The gamesmastershould be prepared to answer any player questionsabout the layout based on the maps found in thecentre of this booklet; he or she may even find ituseful to prepare a sketch map version of these mapsfor players who have requested such blueprints.

The architects’ blueprint of the Consulate base-ment is of much more direct relevance to the mis-sion at hand. This plan is shown on one of the hand-out sheets. The layout is quite accurate – with theexception of a couple of minor modifications madein the past few years (the cells and the skylight),the floorplan completely matches the current con-figuration of the basement as used by the KGB. Thismap, of course, has no information about securitydevices and guard placements.

If the characters ask Tatiana to sketch out a mapof the KGB basement area, she will be able to do sogiven at least a few hours. As described in Part III:C, Investigating Tatiana, the characters will need toarrange some form of clandestine meeting or drop-off in order to get this map from the Russian. Any-thing too overt will almost certainly come to the at-tention of the Soviet Security men. Tatiana’s map isalso provided as a player handout: while it is lesscomplete in that it only covers the basement areasTatiana has visited, it is extremely valuable due toits marking of several of the security measures.

Access Passes

Any plan that involves the characters gaininglegitimate access to restricted sections of the Rus-sian Consulate building will need to include somescheme for obtaining the appropriate access passes.As described in the preceding section, there are onlya few areas on the ground floor which require noofficial pass to enter (or a “Visitor” pass), most re-quire a blue pass. All areas of the second floor re-quire a blue pass. Entry into the basement requiresa red pass, while access to the most sensitive area –the communications room – requires a special redpass with a golden sickle (which has a swipe stripon the back).

During their adventures in Istanbul, it is possi-ble that characters may obtain some of these passes.Any occasion during the Covert war (Part III:D, TheCovert War) when the body of a KGB or Bulgarianthug is recovered, it will be found to be carrying one ofthe blue passes. There is a handout of such a passmade out in the name Kristo Stojanov. Searching theapartment of the leader of the Bulgarians, Krilencu,will reveal his red pass hidden in a gaudy tea tin. Thispass is also provided as a player handout.

There is no easy way for characters to obtainone of the red and gold passes, however. During theday several people carry these passes while they areworking in the communications room. The guard onduty just outside that room, at the central console,also carries such a pass. These special passes arenot permitted to leave the basement area: workersand guards pick their red and gold passes up whenthey arrive from their lockers in the main basementcorridor, and deposit the passes back in the samelockers when their shift is done. Tatiana is intimatelyfamiliar with this procedure, and can describe it tocharacters who ask.

An Explosive Entrance/Exit

In discussions with Kerim Bey, the characterswill probably learn that he has access to the sewertunnels immediately adjacent to the basement of theRussian Consulate. Characters may plot to gain ac-cess to the KGB stationhouse by using explosives toblow a hole between the basement (the meeting hall,in fact) and the sewer. If this plan is presented toBey he will initially (pretend to) oppose it: by plac-ing such an explosive charge, his secret listening postwill be destroyed, and his access to the foundationsof the building will be forever revealed. The futureof M.I.6’s ability to monitor the Russians in Istan-bul could be ruined. Kerim will push this line onlyso long as the characters seem to have another meansof gaining entry to the Consulate: at the end of theday his job is to ensure the theft of the SPECKTORis successful. Character attempts to persuade himfrom his hardline stance will succeed with surpris-ing ease.

Staging an explosion in the basement of theRussian Consulate is a fairly unsubtle exercise, andwill cause general havoc throughout the KGBstationhouse and the Consulate above. As soon asthe blast occurs frightened staff will begin lockingtheir safes and running towards the emergency ex-its. In the basement all staff except for guards willbegin evacuating up the entry stairway. The generalchaos coupled with the dust and smoke caused bythe explosion will make it relatively easy for char-acters to get past guards without being challenged.Note, however, that under no circumstances will theguard at the main console abandon his post. Fur-thermore, while there may be a rush of people leav-ing the communications room, the swipe-access en-try door to that area will remain closed for much ofthe time. This will not pose a problem for characterswho have a red and gold pass (or who have Tatianaalong with them), but for others it will mean incapaci-tating or killing the guard to obtain his access pass.


I. The Orient Express

Once the M.I.6 agents have their hands on theSPECKTOR decoder, their thoughts will likely turnfairly quickly to leaving Istanbul, preferably withTatiana. If consulted, Kerim Bey will be most em-phatic that the only realistic option for making theirescape is by train. There are few boats direct fromIstanbul to Western countries, and all are too slowto outrun the expected pursuit. Air travel is also anunattractive option, largely due to the security andthe lack of anonymity. If characters want to exploreother options, the Gamesmaster should allow them,but ultimately they should conclude that the OrientExpress is the only true option. The remainder ofthis adventure is written under the assumption thatthe characters and Tatiana depart on this train;Gamesmasters whose characters escape the city byother routes will need to adapt the material.

Arriving at Sirkeci station in the heart of thecentral Sultanahmet region of the city (near boththe Russian Consulate and Kerim Bey’s stationhouse), characters will find the Orient Express wait-ing to depart. In fact they will need to hurry just tomake sure that they do not miss the train. KerimBey will insist on accompanying the characters ontheir journey: he smiles as he says that he has allthe details of the escape plan, so they might as wellbring him along for the ride.

As the characters climb aboard their carriage,they are transported into a sumptuous and exoticworld: polished wood and brass fittings are every-where. In their compartments (Bey has booked onefor each pair of characters, and another for himself),characters find a glossy colour brochure outliningthe luxuries they can expect to enjoy on this legen-dary train. This brochure is reproduced as a hand-out in the mission folder.

Any characters not totally overcome by the lav-ishness of their new surroundings, and who is watch-ing the platform just prior to the train’s departuremight see Benz, the Russian Internal Security agent,board the train. Characters need to succeed in a PERroll at Ease Factor 3 to notice him among the bustle,and only those who have previously met Benz or seenhim at the Consulate will know who he actually is.

A Relaxing Train Journey

The first part of the train journey is relaxingand uneventful. Gamesmasters should use this as anatural lull in the pace of the adventure, followingon from the excitement of the SPECKTOR theft andpreceding the later action on the train. This is a goodperiod to indulge in a little roleplaying, particularly

between the characters and Tatiana (assuming sheis accompanying them). How has the relationshipbetween the Russian and her supposed “love” devel-oped? How has her reaction to the characterschanged? Has she become genuinely attached to oneor more of the characters? All these questions shouldbe answered by interactions between Tatiana andthe characters, both in Istanbul and in this brief res-pite.

Also during this part of the journey, Bey willoutline his plan to the characters. He gives themeach a fake passport and a cover story, Tatiana (ifpresent) receives similar. Bey explains that he has agood relationship with the conductors on this trainand they will help with his plan. He will, he says,bribe one of these conductors to stop the train nearthe Bulgarian frontier at 6PM. Bey says he has ar-ranged for his eldest son to be waiting at the desig-nated point with a car, ready to drive them to a smallairfield. There he says, the characters and Tatianawill board a chartered plane to Athens, there tochange for London. Bey explains that the charac-ters do not have to worry about anything, everythinghas been arranged. All they must do is be in theircompartments at 6PM – just before then, Bey willcome to the compartments and ready them for theescape.

Kerim Bey’s true intentions are, however, verydifferent. Most of his story is true: he has bribed theconductor to arrange for an unplanned stop, and hisson will be waiting at the designated location. Un-der his true plan, Bey will be the only one leavingthe train at this temporary stop – with theSPECKTOR. The characters and Tatiana will bedead by then, shot by Bey with a silenced handgun.If he was successful in his plot to film one or more ofthe characters in compromising positions at thegypsy camp, he also plans to use those pictures tofurther embarrass the agents. He will leave the rollof film on the corpse of the Russian beauty and ablackmail note on the body of one of the M.I.6 agents.

As events transpire, Bey’s plot does not unfoldas planned.

A Complication

A short while into the journey, as the train is pass-ing through the pleasant rural Turkish countryside,either the characters or Bey learn that Benz is aboardthe train. The Gamesmaster can arrange this in anumber of ways; on a meander through the wood-pan-elled corridor, Bey may catch a glimpse of the manreturning to his compartment. Or Bey’s conductorfriend may come to him with news of Benz’s presence.


However the characters learn that the InternalSecurity man is aboard the train, the implicationsare significant, particularly if Tatiana is also aboard.If Benz were to even suspect that the stolen decoderwas aboard, or that a Russian Cryptographic Clerkwas riding the train with the intention of defectingto the West, he would be most interested. His offi-cial standing would make it easy for him to call thetrain to an immediate stop, or to assume authorityof the numerous Russian and Russian-sympatheticsoldiers and officials travelling on the train.

Because of this potential to disrupt their plans,Bey is certain that Benz must be dealt with swiftly,before he even learns of the true situation. “Do notworry,” says the Turk, “I will take care of things.Come with me.” He leads the characters to the doorof Benz’s compartment, draws a pistol, then rapsloudly on the door calling (in Turkish) for tickets tobe produced. As Benz opens the door to the compart-ment, Bey pushes him back into his seat, holdinghim all the time at gunpoint. He instructs the char-acters to tie the Russian up.

After Benz is bound, Bey tells the characters toreturn to their compartments. He will guard this oneuntil the Bulgarian frontier. If the characters suggestthat they stay also, Bey will wave them away with hishands, “what would happen if the real conductor comesalong, hey? I know these officials, they work with me,but if they saw a foreigner holding a Russian pris-oner, well … who knows how they might react?”

A Change of Plan

The characters now have an hour or two to do asthey please before Bey’s plan kicks into action at 6PM.The Gamesmaster can use this time as an opportunityfor more roleplaying, or it can be simply skimmed over asuneventful if there is nothing interesting to play out.

Behind the scenes, this period heralds a remark-able turn of events for Bey’s true plan. Not long af-ter Benz is restrained in his compartment, Kerim’sconductor friend comes to the door and drops a bomb-shell: he has seen the blond-haired man that Beywarned him about. He has a compartment some-where on this train! This discovery has serious re-percussions for Bey’s plot: if he proceeds to killTatiana and the characters, steal the SPECKTORand depart the train, it is quite likely that Grantwill observe this. Thus when the decoder eventuallyfalls into the hands of his shadowy employers, M.I.6will have incontrovertible evidence of his associa-tion with this criminal group, and also of his involve-ment in the murder of fellow agents. The conse-quences would be severe: no more could Bey returnto his normal life once the job for the blackmailerswere complete. As all this spins in his mind Bey be-gins to formulate a new, more subtle plan.

Just before 6PM, as the characters are just pre-paring for Bey to lead them to his arranged rendez-vous, there is a sharp knock at their compartmentdoors. The face on the other side is not that of thecharismatic Turk, but rather the flushed and flus-tered face of the conductor. “You are friends of KerimBey?”, he asks in stilted English. Once they haveanswered in the affirmative he continues, saying,“Something terrible has happened. You must comewith me.” He leads the characters to the compart-ment in which they left Bey guarding the RussianSecurity agent. The once-tidy room is now a mess,with luggage and debris scattered everywhere. Windwhips through the place, coming in from outsidethrough a large ragged hole in the glass window.

A dead body dominates the chaotic tableau. It isBenz. He has been shot at close range. The velvet-covered seats on one side of the compartment arestained with his blood. Even a passing inspection of


the window reveals that the jagged edges of theroughly circular hole also bear smears of blood. Theconductor withers visibly at returning to the grizzlyscene. With a pale face he stutters “This man andKerim Bey they must have killed each other, withpoor Mister Bey pushed off the train. Out throughthe window!”

The truth of the matter is quite different. WhileBey did kill the defenseless Benz with a single bul-let to the head, he himself did not die. Rather hesmashed the window with a suitcase, smearing thehole with blood from Benz’s corpse. He then disap-peared into one of the many crawlspaces and hidingplaces scattered throughout the train. From here,he can mastermind his revised plan – a scheme inwhich the characters and Grant are to be played offagainst one another.

Belgrade

The sudden change in Bey’s plan, coupled withhis apparent death, means that the train does notmake its unscheduled stop. Characters who areclosely watching the passing countryside may spota parked car partially concealed beside the tracks,with two men surveying the thundering train withconfused expressions.

If the characters decide to jump from the trainat the appointed rendezvous, it will prove a danger-ous and difficult task. The Gamesmaster shouldwarn them that the Orient Express is racing alongits rails, and that a fall would likely be quite injur-ing, perhaps life-threatening. Any character thatproceeds will be required to make a Safety Roll atEase Factor 3 as if he or she were engaged in a chaseon foot (i.e., using the Evasion skill). The resultsshould be applied as if this were a Trick maneuverbid at Ease Factor between 3 and 5, depending onthe amount of preparation the character has put intothe attempt. Even a safe landing, however, does notdeliver the characters from danger. Taksim Bey andhis brother, far from being their rescuers, will con-front them with weapons drawn.

If they are overcome and captured, the unfortu-nate M.I.6 agents must endure a short, bumpy rideto a small airfield, then several hours bundled intothe baggage compartment of a light plane.Gamesmasters will have to use statistics from theJames Bond 007 Basic Game book or the Q Manualto describe any action that ensues. Characters whofail to escape their captors eventually find them-selves on Skorpios’ Venice-berthed boat, watchingas the SPECKTOR is handed over to him. This al-ternative conclusion to the adventure will need tobe improvised by the Gamesmaster.

Characters who choose to remain on the trainmay be at a loss as to how they are now to escapeback to the West – their only plan is now plainly intatters. As the train pulls into Belgrade, after a verycursory customs stop at the Bulgarian border, helpappears to be at hand. Bey’s son Taksim, red-facedand flustered from his swift drive from the rendez-vous point some miles away, can be seen walkingbackwards and forth along the platform. He is clearlyscanning the windows of the train looking for some-one, presumably the characters. If they alight fromthe train – it has stopped for several minutes to al-low passengers and luggage on and off – they mayspeak with him.

If the characters tell Taksim of the death of hisfather, he will be visibly upset. He has no way ofknowing that Kerim’s plan has changed and thathis death was staged, so the reaction will be genu-ine. The younger Bey will promise to arrange an-other escape route – he says he will phone ahead tothe M.I.6 station house in Zagreb to arrange for anagent to board the train at that stop. He promises,on the memory of his father, that he will help getthem to safety. If the characters suggest leaving thetrain, Taksim will be most emphatic: they should stayon the train, as it is the fastest way away from thosewho are undoubtedly in pursuit from Istanbul.

While Taksim will make good on his promise tomake forward arrangements, he will not be in touchwith M.I.6’s Station House Y. Instead he will con-tact his criminal masters, actually subsidiaries ofTAROT, to suggest that they send an assassin toboard the train in Zagreb posing as a fellow agent.

Suspicions Rise

On the leg of the journey from Belgrade toZagreb, Kerim Bey will begin to put his subtle newplan into action. His objective is to feed on the mis-trust that the agents probably feel towards the blond-haired man (Grant) who has observed them in Is-tanbul. He hopes that by fuelling this tension he cancause one or both of his targets to eliminate the other,thus making his final confrontation easier.

Bey will arrange for a couple of minor incidentsto occur on the train to feed the agents’ paranoia. Ifthe characters ever leave their compartments, evenif only for a moment, he will sneak in and slightlyrearrange their belongings, making it appear asthough the place has been searched. If possible, Beywill leave behind a few blond hairs in a conspicuouslocation (which characters may spot with an EaseFactor 5 PER roll).

Also, shortly before the train is due to passthrough the border into Yugoslavia, the characterswill receive a knock at the door. The carriage con-


ductor is outside with an ice bucket and freshlyopened bottle of Bollinger. As he pours glasses of thefine champagne, he says, “a gift from your friend.”When asked to whom he refers, the conductor re-plies, “why the yellow-haired man. Surely you knowwho I mean?”

Zagreb

As the Orient Express pulls into Zagreb’s cen-tral station, the characters will probably be eagerlyscanning the platform to catch a glimpse of the con-tact promised by Taksim to assist in their escape.With an Ease Factor 5 PER roll, one man can beseen to stand out as somewhat conspicuous. He is atall and dark, vaguely Eastern-European mandressed in a long woolen coat. With furtive eyes helooks backward and forth along the train, pacingimpatiently all the while. Could this unlikely figurebe their M.I.6 contact? Characters who succeed in aFame Roll against the waiting figure’s Fame Pointsrecognise that this man is actually a known crimi-nal, associated by reputation with TAROT.

At the same time as the characters are sightingand possibly recognising the dark figure, Red Grantis doing likewise. From long years of workingthroughout Eastern Europe, he quickly realises thatthe man is an enemy agent, probably interested ineither him or the characters. Thinking rapidly, Grantdisembarks for the platform, sauntering over to theman purposefully. If the characters stand by andwatch, they see him put an arm around the dark-haired man and escort him to the public conven-iences. A moment later, Grant emerges alone, hav-ing quickly interrogated the TAROT agent and tem-porarily incapacitated him.

If the characters weigh into the events on theplatform, things might unfold differently. If they arevery quick off the mark they may make contact with

the TAROT man before Grant has reached him. Thedark stranger will claim to be an M.I.6 agent fromStation House Y; if tested with the normal codephrases, he seems to know them. If they put theirfaith in this man over Grant, who they probablymistrust, he will happily join them back on the train.Once Zagreb is behind them, however, the TAROTagent will waste no time in pulling a gun on them,proceeding quickly to attempt to kill each characterin turn. The dark man’s statistics are given below.

Regardless of how the encounter on the platformplays out, the characters will probably notice thatGrant makes a quick call at an on-platform phonebooth before quickly re-boarding the train.

TAROT AGENT


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Boating (5/16), Disguise (6/15), Driving (4/15), Electronics (4/13), Evasion (6/18), Fire Combat (10/21), Hand-to-Hand Com-bat (5/17), Stealth (9/18)HEIGHT: 6’2” SPEED: 2WEIGHT: 195 lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 35 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Plain RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 60 CARRYING: 151-210 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 1 WEAPON: Luger Parabellum, knife

Once the drama surrounding the TAROT assas-sin has been played out, with the man being eithereliminated by Grant or the characters, theGamesmaster should allow a brief moment of res-pite before revealing the next twist. Donovan Grant,who has been watching the characters for some timeas possible suspects in his investigation, finally con-cludes that they are not the double agents he be-lieved. He realises that they are simply M.I.6 agentspursued by TAROT, and as such they deserve anyassistance he can render.

Grant’s Plan

A short time into the journey from Zagreb, Grantcomes to the door of one of the characters, present-ing himself with a confident knock. Once inside thecompartment, with the door firmly closed, he willreveal that he is, in fact, an M.I.6 agent and that hehas been observing the movements of the charac-ters ever since they landed in Istanbul. If he hassaved one or more of the characters during that time,he will tell them that he has been their “guardianangel”. If challenged, Grant knows all the standardcode phrases; he also has one of the new standardissue briefcases from Q Branch. Any enquiries as tothe nature of Grant’s mission in Turkey are met withcagey responses at best.


Grant tells the characters that it is vital thatthey get off the train before it reaches the Italianborder. He asks to see the fake passports Bey gavethem and, if the characters comply, tells them in nouncertain terms that these will not get them intoItaly. “You have neither the visas or the identitypapers needed to cross at that border, and the Yugo-slavian border guards will be all over your little pieceof Russian-made electronics.” Fortunately, he tellsthe characters, he has arranged a way out. He pullsa map from his jacket pocket and outlines his plan.

“Just before the train passes into Italy on theway to Trieste, it passes through these mountains,”he explains, pointing to the map. “Because of thesteep grade, the train slows down, almost to walk-ing pace, just for a short section. I have arranged fora local contact of mine to be waiting at a road cross-ing here. All we have to do is jump from the train.From there we ride with him to the Adriatic coastand a quick boat journey to Venice.”

The Gamesmaster should allow plenty of timefor this scene to play out. How the characters reactto Grant and the amount of trust they put in hisplan will depend on how much they believe his story.It is still, however, the only escape plan they have.

Fish, Wine and Sleeping Pills

As there is still some time before the trainreaches the mountainous border, Grant suggests thatthe characters join him for a pleasant dinner in theRestaurant Car. Assuming that they have not al-ready eaten, the unexpected events of this evening’sjourney have left them more than a little hungry.Tatiana is also invited. If the characters acceptGrant’s offer, they have a fine dinner in luxurioussurrounds. At dinner Grant will open up a little moreand tell a few tales of his many years spent workingin various countries in Eastern Europe. “I don’t thinkI’d even recognise London it’s so long since I’ve beenthere,” he will quip.

Characters who succeed in a Connoisseur rollat Ease Factor 6 will notice that Grant makes a glar-ing mistake when ordering his meal. He chooses tohave a fish main course, the grilled sole, to be ac-companied by Red Chianti. It is far more typical toserve white wine with fish. If anyone confronts Grantwith this gaffe he jokes, “I’ve been living so long withsome of these strange European customs that some-times I forget the ways of high culture.”

After the meal has been served, when everyoneis sharing a final drink before returning to his orher compartment, Grant will make an effort to catchTatiana’s eye. If successful, he will attempt to dis-tract her attention away from the table. He could dothis by pointing out to her a particularly attractive

flower arrangement at the bar, or by trying to gether to watch the pianist. While Tatiana, and per-haps some or all of the characters, have their atten-tion elsewhere, Grant will proceed to drop a tinywhite pill into her half-full glass of champagne. TheGamesmaster should make a DEX roll at Ease Fac-tor 5 for Grant; each of the characters has the op-portunity of making a PER roll with Ease Factorthe same as Grant’s Quality Rating from this roll.Under no circumstances will Tatiana realise whatis occurring. Any characters that seem to have spot-ted the sleight of hand receive a knowing wink fromGrant. Failing intervention by the characters,Tatiana will drink the drugged champagne.

The Final Confrontation

Following dinner, the characters plus Grant andTatiana will presumably return to one or more ofthe characters’ compartments. If Tatiana wasdrugged by Grant, she will begin to feel lightheadedon the way back from the Restaurant car, and willvirtually collapse as soon as she is back in the com-partment. If any character challenges Grant as towhy he drugged the girl, a sharp rebuke follows,“This escape route is for you, me and the decoder.The girl stays behind, she will be fine.” If the char-acters object to this callousness, the blond-hairedman will challenge them, “which are you after, thedecoder or the girl?”

Once any confrontations over his actions withTatiana are resolved, Grant will become more genialapparently softening yet further to the characters. Hetries to steer the conversation to their time in Istan-bul. After a slight lull, he enquires directly about theimpression the characters gained of Kerim Bey. Oncethey have had their say, Grant takes a moment to care-fully absorb what they have related, then says “thereis something I must tell you about Kerim Bey. It hasto do with my mission in Istanbul…”

It is at this point that Bey makes his move. Sud-denly from above the characters a shot rings out andGrant falls to the ground, dead. The Turk has beenhiding in a crawlspace above the compartment forsome time, and has heard all that has transpiredbetween Grant and the characters. Now, he reasons,is the proper time to eliminate both Grant and theM.I.6 agents and depart the train.

The Gamesmaster may prefers to resolve theassassination attempt using the normal Fire Com-bat rules rather than simply announcing that Grantis dead. If this option is chosen, Bey should be al-lowed modifiers for “taking a bead” (+3) and “targetsurprised” (+4). Bey will make a specific shot toGrant’s head (-2 Ease Factor but damage result in-creased by two levels). Also, in this unusual scenario


Bey should be permitted to use any Survival Pointslike Hero Points (to improve the quality of his result).

Immediately following the first shot from abovethe characters hear a terrible splintering noise fromthe ceiling overhead. With a firm kick, Kerim Beybreaks through the thin lacquered plyboard of thecompartment’s false ceiling and drops to the ground.He brandishes a pistol, with which he covers thecharacters as best he can.

In true villain style, Bey now makes a speech. “Mydear, dear friends,” he begins. “You do not know howmuch it pains me to stand here, pointing this uglyweapon in your face(s). But my employers want youdead, my friends, almost as much as they want theSPECKTOR decoder. I know what you are thinking,surely I work for M.I.6. And I do. Loyally. But some-times in life things happen which give other peoplepower over you, or over your family. For me it was myeldest son falling in with an unsavory crowd whothreatened him and me with blackmail. As you know,family is very important to me. For a time – a veryshort time – these people have been my employers.”

“But you know, my friends, during your stay inthe Balkans you have worked for my employers everybit as much as I have. Surprised? Of course you are.But it is true. The goal that my employers set theirsights upon was a difficult one. The Russians verycarefully guard their decoding machines, as I believeyou found out for yourself. Stealing such a thingwould require a true expert, a professional. Say, aBritish agent. From the beginning you have beenworking for Them, my friends. They set up the trapby arranging for an innocent Russian girl to receiveinstructions. Instruction to offer up the device, andnot to mention herself, if only the British would sendtheir experts to undertake the theft. Now that youhave the SPECKTOR it is my turn to serve thosesame employers, by killing you and delivering thedecoder into their lap. Please do not take it person-ally – I have enjoyed working with you in Istanbul.But now you must die.”

If Bey was successful in his plan to film one ormore of the characters in intimate or embarassingsituations at the gypsy camp, he adds one final jibe.“Oh, one other thing you should know. After I havedelivered the machine to my employers, they haveasked me to deliver this to the world’s media.” Witha flourish, he produces a small reel of film. “Whowould have ever thought that those gypsy girls wouldhave been so … flexible.” He pauses for a dry laugh.“Once the world has seen how true British secretagents behave on assignment, perhaps they will alllock up their girls when your compatriots are in town.I don’t know why but this gives my employers greatpleasure; perhaps they have met you before.” Afteranother droll laugh, Bey raises his gun, saying “nowit is goodbye.”

Once Kerim Bey has finished his monologue, hewill attempt to shoot the characters dead. TheGamesmaster should resolve any action that tran-spires as per usual. The two sections which followhave some specific notes about running combat andchases (assuming the action spills out into the trainat large) in the confined space of the Orient Express.Bey cannot be talked out of his murderous inten-tions; his instinct to protect his family, served bybowing to his blackmailers, is stronger than any-thing the characters can offer. He will not stop untileither he or the characters are dead.

It is worth bearing in mind that Bey is not fa-miliar with the new Q-issue briefcases which thecharacters and Grant were both issued. Specifically,he does not know the special means of opening suchcases without setting of the gas cannister.

Combat on the Orient Express

Fire Combat inside the Orient Express is resolvednormally, although the cramped spaces may make itdifficult for combatants to easily get themselves in agood position to fire their weapon. Hand-to-Hand Com-bat inside a compartment presents some difficulties.Firstly, there is no way simply to retreat out of range.The only avenues of escape are through the door tothe passageway, into an adjoining compartment, orthrough the window. Involuntarily going out the win-dow requires a DEX roll (- 3 Ease Factor modifier) tograb onto some projection, and a Mountaineering rollto get back inside (-3 Ease Factor modifier) or ontothe roof (-2 Ease Factor modifier). To escape voluntar-ily from a compartment requires the opponent to beStunned for a complete round.

A character may box his opponent into a cornerby performing a Restrain action. In this case, the


opponent is not being held in a full-nelson or bear hug,but has been forced into a narrow space where hisopponent’s blows cannot be as easily dodged. Increasethe Wound Level of the opponent’s blows by one untilthe character makes a successful Release action.

Chases on the Orient Express

Chases aboard the Orient Express will, of course,be on foot and make use of the Evasion skill. Withthe amount of traffic in the average train corridor,the characters should have to get around fellow pas-sengers at least once in every three rounds. To getaround a passenger requires a Trick maneuver (-2Ease Factor modifier, though you may increase thismodifier depending on the girth of the blocking pas-senger). On a Quality Rating 3 or better, the charac-ter has managed to get by the passenger with mini-mum pushing and shoving. On a Quality Rating 4,the passenger has been roughly shoved aside andwill certainly complain to the conductor about thecharacter’s rudeness. If the maneuver was a failure,both the character and passenger wind up on thefloor in a heap. Anyone trying to get past this heapdoes so at a -4 Ease Factor modifier.

Ducking into a convenient compartment to eludepursuers is considered a Quick Turn. You can popu-late the compartment or not, depending on how easythe chase is going for the character.

Climbing around on the outside of a train requiresa character to use his Mountaineering skill. You canapply a -2 Ease Factor modifier to account for themovement of the train and the buffeting of the wind.

All chase maneuvers atop a moving train have aSafety roll Ease Factor of 3, and any mishap damageis applied as for Trick maneuvers, since the characteris considered to have fallen off the train. A failed Safetyroll, however, does not mean the character takes dam-age automatically. He should be allowed a DEX roll (-2 Ease Factor modifier) to grab on to some outcroppingon the train. If this roll is successful, he is consideredto be dangling off the side of the train until he pullshimself up (Mountaineering roll).

Combatants who are Stunned or who fail to maketheir Pain Resistance rolls must succeed at a DEXroll (-1 Ease Factor modifier) to keep from being sweptoff the train. If this roll fails, they should make a sec-ond DEX roll to determine how much damage theyhave taken as a result of the fall. Use the chart belowto determine the Wound Level from the fall.

DEX ROLLRESULT DAMAGE TAKEN

Quality Rating 1 No damageQuality Rating 2 Light WoundQuality Rating 3 Medium WoundQuality Rating 4 Heavy WoundFailure Incapacitation

While the characters are on top of the train, thereare obstacles that will threaten to sweep them off.You can have an obstacle appear on every sixth Ac-tion Round. Any character facing the direction inwhich the train is moving will automatically noticethe obstacle; all others should get a PER roll to no-tice it. Following the description of each obstacle isthe Ease Factor modifier applied to the DEX roll thatmust be made to avoid being hit by it. Some of theobstacles that can appear include:

• Trestle: All characters must dive for the roof to avoidbeing swept off (-2 Ease Factor modifier). All charac-ters must perform a Rise in the next round to get up.

• Signal stanchion: All characters must either divefor the roof (-2 Ease Factor modifier) or jump overthe stanchion (-3 Ease Factor modifier). Jumpingover the stanchion successfully means the charac-ter lands on his feet and does not have to Rise.

• Low tunnel: All characters must dive to the roof toavoid being knocked off the train (-2 Ease Factor modi-fier). All characters must perform a Rise in the nextround to get up. If a tunnel is the obstacle, you maydecide that the roof is high enough for the charactersto remain standing. Roll a D6 to determine how manyrounds it takes the train to get through the tunnel.


J. At The Italian Border

As the Orient Express approaches the border withItaly, it begins to wind its way up into the mountains,slowing as it progresses up the steady grade. The charac-ters’ confrontation with Kerim Bey has most likely beenresolved by this point, and the drop in speed should re-mind them of Grant’s escape plan. Retrieving the mapfrom the blond man’s corpse, they can easily see the ex-act location he planned to jump from the train.

If the agents decide to ignore this opportunityto leave the train before the frontier, they will find itimpossible to evade the probing attention of the Yu-goslavian border guards. As Grant intimated, evenas normal travellers the characters would find thecrossing difficult with the papers Bey produced forthem. Compounding these difficulties, TAROT hasplanted an agent in the border station and taskedhim with the recovery of the SPECKTOR shouldBey’s plan fail. The Gamesmaster will need to im-provise an encounter if the characters choose thisroute. It should be next to impossible for the M.I.6agents to escape alive, let alone with the decoder.

Jumping from the train at the appointed cross-ing is not difficult, and is actually quite safe. Char-acters should make an Ease Factor 9 DEX roll withfailure indicating a Light Wound due to an awkwardfall. The task of moving a drugged Tatiana off thetrain might prove more challenging – theGamesmaster should allow the characters to formu-late a plan and assign rolls accordingly. If a charac-ter wishes to hold onto the semi-unconscious womanwhile jumping, reduce the Ease Factor of their DEXroll to 4 and also call for an Ease Factor 5 STR rollto keep a firm hold on Tatiana as they fall. Otherplans will likely be resolved through a combinationof DEX rolls, STR rolls and possibly the Mountain-eering skill (if equipment is used to assist).

Once the characters are all safely on the vergeof the rail track, they can pick themselves up to sur-vey the scene. Parked a short distance away along anarrow mountainous road is a slightly beaten-uptruck, its flat bed filled with flowers cut from thesurrounding fields. The driver, a portly Yugoslav withthe appearance of a farmer, approaches cautiously.The man is expecting to make contact with Grant,and his absence may make for a few awkward mo-ments. Characters who explain what has transpired,and who can identify themselves as M.I.6 agents bycodephrases, will soon convince him of their story.

The Yugoslav contact explains that Grant hadplanned for him to drive the characters to the Adri-atic coast where a speedboat is waiting. The boathas been stocked with enough fuel to easily reachVenice or beyond.

It is approximately twenty miles from the train cross-ing to the makeshift pier. For much of the journey theaged truck winds its way through narrow mountain roads,the gearbox crunching at almost every bend.

About fifteen minutes into the drive, the vehiclecomes to the attention of a helicopter patrolling theYugoslav-Italian border. The little-used road trav-els very close to the boundary between the two coun-tries, and the presence of a farm truck in this iso-lated region is unusual. The Bell Texasranger ini-tially pulls directly above the truck and a borderguard leans out one side, challenging the driver tostop with a megaphone. If the Yugoslav farmer isdriving, he begins to panic and plants his foot. Thetruck veers chaotically around the winding moun-tain road, skidding precariously around corners. Ifa character is driving, a more level-headed reactionmay prevail but whatever maneuvers are attemptedthe helicopter has no difficulty in remaining in pur-suit. After a round or two, the second guard in thehelicopter will begin dropping hand grenades at thetruck.

FLOWER TRUCK


-1 5 40 90 600 6 30

YUGOSLAVIAN BORDER PILOT


SKILLS (SKILL LEVEL/PRIMARY CHANCE)Hand-to-Hand Combat (5/15), Piloting (10/22)HEIGHT: 5’9” SPEED: 3WEIGHT: 225 lbs HAND-TO-HAND DAMAGE CLASS: BAGE: 30 STAMINA: 28 hoursAPPEARANCE: Plain RUNNING/SWIMMING: 25 minutesFAME POINTS: 0 CARRYING: 101-150 poundsSURVIVAL POINTS: 0 WEAPON: Grenade

Run this as a chase sequence, but one in whichthe driver of the truck may only make Trickmaneuvers, attempts to veer left or right out of theway of the helicopter. The helicopter pilot does nothave to make pursue rolls to keep up with truck dueto superior speed and maneuverability. The pilotmust make Trick maneuvers, however, to positionthe helicopter in such a way that his fellow guardcan drop a grenade directly onto it. To resolve suchan attack, compare the Quality Ratings of the truckdriver’s and the pilot’s rolls on the table below – thisshows the distance in feet that the grenade lands


from the truck. The hand grenade delivers AreaDamage Class I; the truck protects its occupants withits 30 Structure Points.

GRENADE DETONATION DISTANCE TABLE

DRIVER’S QRPILOT’S QR F 4 3 2 1

F 40+ 40+ 40+ 40+ 40+4 10 30 40+ 40+ 40+3 10 20 30 40+ 40+2 0 10 20 30 40+1 0 0 10 20 30

It should be obvious that the only way that thecharacters can survive this chase is for the helicop-ter to be eliminated. The guard has a plentiful sup-ply of grenades (at least 30) and there are still manymiles to travel before reaching the pier. The helicop-ter can be eliminated in two ways: either throughmishaps during the Trick maneuvers to position, orthrough weapons fire. If a character chooses to fireat the helicopter from the truck, he or she will haveto lean partially out one of the windows to do so.Resolve the Fire Combat as normal (remember the

–2 EF modifier for target moving and further –2 EFmodifier for firer moving) but exposed characters re-ceive no structural damage reduction for grenades thatexplode while they are partially outside the truck.

To put themselves on a more equal footing withregards to maneuverability, characters may elect tostop the truck and continue the chase on foot (usingtheir Evasion skill). There are several sections wherethe mountainous countryside is punctuated by roll-ing highland hills; such places offer relative free-dom of movement and a little cover. Once charac-ters have left the truck behind, the tactics of thehelicopter pilot changes: he now attempts a Forcemaneuver each round in an attempt to mow a tar-get down. Such targets have a Force rating of 0. Whilecharacters on foot still cannot make Flee maneuvers,the open highlands do permit them Quick Turns andDouble Backs. If a character stops still for a roundor more, for example to take a bead on the helicop-ter with a hunting rifle, the border guards will at-tempt to drop a grenade directly on top of them. Sucha maneuver will require a couple of rounds (and aTrick Maneuver at EF 7) to set up, incidentally giv-ing a sniper on the ground at least one clear shot atthe helicopter.

As before, the characters can only survive thefoot chase if the helicopter crashes due to a mishapor as the result of weapons fire.

K. Boat Chase

As the long winding mountain road makes itsfinal descent to the glittering Cerulean blue of theAdriatic, the characters will catch first sight of theirdestination. Nestled into a little cove protected by aring of small rocky outcrops is a small wooden pier.Tied to a wooden post, a shiny Cobalt CM-9 speed-boat awaits their arrival. The back of the small boatholds three large metal barrels, extra fuel to get thelittle vessel well out of Yugoslavia and into Italy.

If the characters search through the various lock-ers next to the wheel they discover detailed nauti-cal charts and an emergency kit – some food, a firstaid kit and a flare gun. Any characters succeedingat an Ease Factor 5 Boating roll will realise thatthere is enough fuel in the tank to get the boat acrossthe border (just), but with the three extra barrelsthe little boat could reach half way down the Italianpeninsula if required.

About five minutes after the characters set offin the speedboat, they hear the sounds of severalother whining motors coming from somewhere be-hind them. In an instant three boats appear in theirwake, ducking out from narrows between the coastand several rocky islets. These boats, also Cobalt CM-9s, each fly a coloured flag – one red, one green and

one black. In the centre of each flag is a sinister logo,a skull and two sickles. The TAROT logo. Behindthe scenes agents of the sinister organisation werelistening in to the radio reports from the helicopterborder patrol back to the Yugoslavian authorities.Hastily they were able to dispatch a small team ofboats charged with the mission of eliminating theM.I.6 agents at all costs.

Each of the TAROT boats has two agents on-board, both with the same statistics as the TAROTagent which met the train in Zagreb (see Part III:I,The Orient Express) but equipped with an Uzi. Oneagent pilots each boat, while the second fires hissubmachine gun at the characters’ boat wheneverthe opportunity presents itself. The chase begins atMedium range. There are several jagged outcropsand reefs in the coastal region which present obsta-cles, each requiring a Trick maneuver with an EaseFactor from 2 to 5. The Gamesmaster should throwsuch obstacles in the path of the characters’ boatevery few rounds unless they have some means ofsteering a clear course.

If the characters’ boat takes damage from FireCombat, the characters will see bullet holes appearin all three of the fuel tanks which are balanced on


the back of the boat. Fuel will begin to rapidly leakfrom these holes and pool on the floor of the speed-boat. While this does not cause the boat to stop (thereis still the main tank intact), the leaking fuel is ob-viously highly flammable. If any TAROT agents areat Medium range (or get to Medium or closer rangeon a subsequent round) they may notice the fuel leakon a successful PER roll. When one or more noticethe leak, they will put down their Uzi’s and attemptto fire flares into the back of the boat. To hit the boatwith a live flare, the attacker and target vessels mustbe at Close range and the attacker must succeed ina normal Fire Combat roll. Success indicates thatthe contents of all the fuel barrels explode, alongwith the main tank – apply Area Damage Class K.

Quick-witted characters may use the puncturedfuel barrels to their advantage, however. If the char-acters cut the barrels loose, they quickly fall intothe water behind the speedboat, spreading an invis-ible fuel slick behind them. The characters can ig-nite this fuel a round later by launching a flare (theyneed only succeed in an Ease Factor 8 Fire Combatroll to hit the quickly-spreading slick). A huge cur-tain of flame springs up from the water, directly ig-niting any pursuers at Close range, for an instantIncapacitate result. A Burning boat explodes in threerounds, causing Area Damage Class J to those on oraround it. Pursuers at Long range can attempt anEase Factor 5 Double Back maneuver to avoid thecurtain; those at Extreme need only an Ease Factor8 Double Back maneuver. Boats that do not succeedin such maneuvers also catch alight for an instantIncapacitate result. The fate of boats who avoid thecurtain of fire must be adjudicated by theGamesmaster; if there is no way such boats could

get around the spreading fuel slick to rejoin the chasethey are effectively out of the chase.

Once the three TAROT boats are dispatched, thecharacters encounter no further obstacles on theirjourney to Italy. If they jettisoned most of their fuelduring the chase, they have only enough left to limpto Trieste, otherwise they have sufficient fuel to headfor the more romantic destination of Venice. Oncethe characters have reached either city (hopefullywith the decoder and Tatiana), their mission is ef-fectively complete.

L. Final Gambit

This section presents an optional finale to the ad-venture which provides a last sting to the complexschemes of TAROT and, if she is present, challengesTatiana’s true loyalties. If the characters have struggledto get to this point, or if they are on their last legs, theGamesmaster may choose to omit this sequence.

Alexei Kronsteen, the man who architected theentire plan for TAROT to snatch the SPECKTOR byagency of M.I.6’s finest, is not a man used to beingbeaten at his own game. The actions of the charac-ters have made him look a fool – the ‘foolproof ’ planhe designed for his shadowy employers is now intatters. He faces demotion in the TAROT organisa-tion at best; his punishment may be actually moredeadly. Motivated by this fury, Kronsteen will at-

tempt one final attempt to retrieve the decoder, thistime conducting his attack personally.

As the characters and, if the characters havebrought her this far, Tatiana are resting in their luxu-rious five-star hotel in Italy, they receive a knock atthe door. The man on the other side is dressed in theuniform of the hotel’s bellboys: a traditional red outfitwith gold trim and a flat pillbox hat. Although thecharacters probably have no way of recognising him,this is actually Kronsteen.

The way in which Kronsteen conducts his at-tempt on the SPECKTOR depends on whetherTatiana is present. If she is present in the hotel room,he will announce that he has a message for her, hand-ing over a crisp elegant envelope. The note inside,


signed by Klebb, congratulates Tatiana on her excellentwork for the state; she has done well in drawing the West-ern agents to this point. Her mission now is to hand overthe decoder to this man and return with him to Istanbul.Assuming Tatiana gets to read this note, theGamesmaster will have to decide how she acts, based onher current Reaction to the characters. If she still remainsloyal to the Russians (the wit and charm of the M.I.6agents has failed to win her over), she will try to quietlyretrieve the SPECKTOR and slip out of the hotel. Alter-natively, if she now genuinely wishes to defect, she willfrankly tell the characters that this man is an enemyagent. At this point Kronsteen abandons his subtle machi-nations and simply attacks the characters, firstly pullinga Luger from his uniform, although reverting to his poi-soned dagger-shoe if disarmed or hedged into a corner.

If Tatiana has not accompanied the agents thisfar, Kronsteen will adopt a different strategy. Wait-ing until the characters are checking out of the ho-tel, he will come to the room under the guise of abellboy taking their luggage to the lobby. He willmake straight for the small case, which he recog-nises as containing the SPECKTOR, and once he hasit will attempt to make for the door and bolt to thefire stairs. If the characters confront him either dur-ing his theft or as he escapes, he will drop thepretense and attack as outlined above.

If captured or questioned at any point, Kronsteenwill tell the characters plainly that they only defeatedhis perfect plan through good fortune. “I am the mas-ter strategist.”, he says with a superior air, “you weremerely simple pawns that got lucky. Nothing more.”

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Part IV:Adventure

Information

uccess in the mission requires the charactersto escape from behind the Iron Curtain with

the SPECKTOR decoder and, if possible, TatianaRomanova (who can explain details of its operationto Q branch and other cryptographic experts). Re-trieving Tatiana without the decoder represents onlya partial success – certainly she can explain detailsof the device to British Intelligence, but without thedevice itself this information is much less useful. Insuch a scenario, the characters will likely be sentback to Istanbul (or wherever the SPECKTOR waslast seen) to try to pick up the trail of the device,with an eye towards obtaining it.

Unlike other Bond adventures, the consequencesof failure are not world-shattering. Failing to obtainthe SPECTOR decoder will certainly prove to be asore disappointment to M.I.6 and to the more shad-owy arms of British Intelligence. The consequencesof failure for the characters, however, will be fatal.

If the Characters Succeed

The consequences of success in this mission arefairly clear-cut: British Intelligence gain a significantcapacity, to instantaneously decode the most secre-tive messages of the Russians. Naturally, since theRussians are aware of the theft, there is only a cer-tain time window that this capability is most useful.However, in that time the use of the stolen SPECKTORallows the British to obtain invaluable informationas to the identity of Russian agents, the precise place-ment of their military assets, and exact details of es-pionage operations underway. Several double agentsare revealed, publicly tried and imprisoned. The repu-tation of M.I.6 as a major player in global espionage

SA. Consequences

is enhanced, with the Americans frequently consult-ing the British for advice on Russian movements.

On a personal level, success means the charactershave foiled TAROT’s “fool proof” plan to assassinate them.This will in no way mean that the terrorist group willgive up their pursuit of the agents. If anything, TAROT(and in particular Kronsteen if he ends the adventurealive) will be even more interested in arranging an elabo-rate and messy death for the characters.

If the Characters Fail

Failure in this mission will probably mean deathfor the characters, either as a casualty in the deadlyCovert War or, more likely, at the hands of KerimBey on the Orient Express.

If the characters had succeeded in stealing theSPECKTOR from the Russian Consulate it will, ontheir death, fall inevitably into the hands of TAROT.This is the worst possible outcome: to the shadowyterrorist organisation this represents a major boostin power and reputation. TAROT’s leader KarlFerenc Skorpios will consider the benefits of keep-ing the decoder for himself, to effortlessly read themost secret transmissions of the Russians. Ulti-mately, however, he will decide that it is far moreuseful for the organisation to offer the decoder upfor sale to the highest bidder. Such a rare and valu-able item appearing on the international espionage‘black market’ creates an enormous interest, withthe offered amounts spirally quickly to incrediblefigures. Skorpios’ personal hatred towards Britainand America causes him to eliminate those coun-tries from the bidding, however there are still nu-merous parties who are willing to pay millions for


the SPECKTOR. Eventually, the device is sold backto the Soviets who part with a huge sum just to keepthe decoder from falling into the hands of other na-tions. TAROT’s coffers swell with the income fromthis enterprise, not to mention the more secretivesale of copies made by TAROT scientists to otherbidders. This injection of money allows the insidi-ous organisation to begin planning some truly au-dacious enterprises.

The deaths of the characters will be accompaniedby dubious public tales of illicit dealings. As soon asthe M.I.6 agents have been eliminated, Kerim Beyquickly returns to Istanbul and to the gypsy camp. Hemurders the two girls the characters fraternised withbriefly, ideally using the characters’ own weapons. Hethen anonymously begins vigorously circulating a sor-did story, relating how the British agents became

entangled in a bizarre love triangle with the two girls,which ultimately lead to the agents murdering thetwo girls before committing suicide. He will also en-sure the film of the characters’ liaisons with the gypsygirls becomes commonly circulated, adding significantweight to the salacious tale. The end result of this ig-noble enterprise will be permanent damage to the in-ternational reputation of the British secret service.Media frenzy ensures that the general population viewthe service as a disgraceful and immoral group, usingpublic money to pursue their own peccadillos. Even-tually this negative publicity translates into a signifi-cant reduction in the operating budget of M.I.6 andconsiderably more political oversight for the organi-sation. Neither of these prove to be positive develop-ments: opportunities for overseas operations becomefewer, and access to quality equipment is diminished.

B. Altering the Adventure1. In the instance that the majority of charac-

ters are female, you may wish to replace TatianaRomanova with the (male) Russian cryptographicclerk Viktor Romanova, who has the same statisticsand skills. In such a situation you will also need tochange the “bait” in Bey’s “honey-pot”: replace thetwo fighting gypsy girls with some other situationyou believe will bring at least one of your charactersinto a compromising position in one of the trailers.

2. If you are interested in keeping Bey alive forfuture adventures as a M.I.6 turncoat, you may wishto substitute Klebb and/or Kronsteen as the assassin(s)who attack the characters on the Orient Express.

3. Instead of Kerim Bey being the master vil-lain responsible for trapping and ultimately attempt-ing to kill the characters, you may wish to use RosaKlebb in this role. In such an adventure, Bey wouldbe an innocent and loyal member of M.I.6. Klebbwould be responsible for bribing Bey’s gypsy friendsto trick the characters into a compromising situa-tion. She, or another of TAROT’s agents, would bethe assassin on the train.

4. To make the adventure shorter and less confus-ing for the characters, you may elect to keep the covertwar (which is really nothing more than background in-tended to make life more complex for the agents) short,or eliminate this aspect of the plot altogether.

C. Further Adventures1. If Kronsteen or Klebb are alive at the end of

the mission, either will earnestly want his or herrevenge on M.I.6 and in particular the characters.Their failure in this mission will have reduced thestanding of the two in the TAROT organisation tosuch an extent that they may actually be on the runfrom assassins themselves. Thus the inevitable trapsthey may plan for the characters will be less majes-tic in scope, although just as deadly.

2. If Kerim Bey is alive at the end of the adventure,his treachery will have been exposed to M.I.6 and he willbe a fugitive. Even in such a position, however, he willstill have a reasonable body of followers in and aroundIstanbul (including the gypsies and his extensive arrayof sons). With these contacts he will attempt to sabotagethe British Intelligence effort in Turkey, effectively clos-ing station T permanently. The characters, as agents whohave some experience with Bey are logical choices formissions to either undermine his clandestine war, or tobring him back into the fold.

3. Another option for continuing adventureswith Kerim Bey involves the possibility that, as afugitive he elects to become a closer ally of TAROT.As a direct TAROT operative he could appear any-where in the Near East or Northern Africa, under-taking high profile missions in these regions.Skorpios, recognising Bey as an embarrassment toBritain would make sure that M.I.6 were the first toreceive leaked information about his activities.

4. If Tatiana was safely brought back to England,she could easily come under the sway of the Soviets(who still have her family in Kiev). Under such pres-sure she might agree to work as an agent inside Brit-ain, perhaps targetting the British cryptographic serv-ices to steal their secretive code devices. The charac-ters might be brought in after one such device andTatiana have both gone missing under suspicious cir-cumstances. Grant might be brought in to assist in anundercover mission to Moscow to investigate.

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Part V:Thrilling

Cities

IIstanbul, Turkey

stanbul’s existence, under one name or another,extends back well over 2,500 years. First known

as Byzantium, it was founded by Megarian colonists.It then became Constantinople, renamed for theEmperor Constantine. Finally as Istanbul, the cityhas become a crossroads where European mannersmeet with Middle East traditions, thus making foran enticing brew.

Istanbul bridges two continents. On the west sideof the Bosphorus is the European portion of the city.This was the site of Constantinople, and one can stillsee the wall built to protect the city. Though it hascrumbled over the years, it is still an impressivesight. Most of the historical and architectural sightsin Istanbul are contained on this peninsula, boundedon three sides by the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus,and the Halic River (nicknamed the Golden Horn).The Golden Horn at first viewing may seem a mis-nomer for this rather ordinary river. However, twoships filled with gold were sunk here when Mehmetthe Conquerer took over the city. The ships havenever been recovered. This section, called Old Town,contains most of the 600-700 mosques reputed to bein Istanbul. Here is the famous church of St. Sofia, afavorite place of tourists and a great meeting placefor spies. Also here can be found the Mosque of Sul-tan Ahmet, also known as the Blue Mosque. In addi-tion to these places of worship, one can visit theTopkapi Palace with its fabulous treasury collectionof jewels that fill four rooms. Other sights to visitare the cistern of Yerebatan (the Sunken Palace),and the Museum of Mosaics. All of these attractionsare within walking distance of one another.

Those visiting a mosque can either remove theirshoes and walk about in their socks or stockings, oruse the huge slippers provided to cover their shoes.Many visitors believe this is a religious requirementof the Muslim religion. Actually it is a courtesy ofcleanliness, since the Muslims must touch their fore-heads to the floor when praying.

On the Asian side of the city are the IskeleMosque, the Beylerbey Palace, and Camlica Hill, bestknown for its magnificent view.

HOTELS: You should make reservations, especiallyduring the peak summer months. The smaller ho-tels, though, have only sporadic water service dur-ing this time. While the most impressive sights arein Old Town, the best hotels are across the bridge inNew Town.

• Hilton (Cumhuriyet Caddesi)Features: The usual Hilton small-city conceptwith a Turkish flavor, complete with swimmingpool and restaurants.

• Inter-Continental (Taksim Square)Features: Very comfortable and offers a heatedpool. It is the tallest building in the city so itaffords a spectacular view.

• Etap (Mesrutiyet Caddesi)Features: One of the newest hotels in Istanbul,offering a pool and a discotheque.

RESTAURANTS: For the most part the large hotelshave made the Turkish cuisine blander to suit West-ern palates. The adventurous should try some local


restaurants for a really good kebaoci, broiled on aspit next to the table.

• Roof Grill (Hilton Hotel)This restaurant is an exception to the rule statedabove. It offers authentic Turkish cuisine for tour-ists in addition to regular Western dishes for vis-iting Americans.

• Galata Tower (Galata)The international menu and floor show, combinedwith a marvellous after-dark view, make this amajor meeting place for Turkish society.

• Liman (Near the Galata Bridge)Overlooking the Bosphorus, this restaurant of-fers fresh seafood specialities. Unfortunately, itis open only for lunch.

MONEY: 27.5 Turkish lira (TL) equal one pound.

COMMUNICATIONS: Phone calls can be made fromtourist offices, hotels, and cafes. Outside of the ma-jor cities, the calls must be placed with an operator.A post office showing a yellow PTT sign means that

Post, Telephone, and Telegraph facilities are avail-able there.

LANGUAGES:Turkish, Kurdish, English, Arabic

GETTING AROUND: Cars can be rented. It is wiserto stick to the main thoroughfares rather than thewinding, steep side streets until one becomes famil-iar with the eccentricities of Turkish drivers. Theyseem to rank just above Italian drivers in courtesyand safety. It is not unusual to be passed on bothsides by two cars coming from behind, allowing atotal of one-half inch clearance among all three cars.Taxi prices should be settled ahead of time since themeters often do not work and the rider may be roy-ally overcharged. A dolmus, or shared taxi, follows aregular route, picking up and discharging passen-gers along its route. It is much like a bus and aboutas personal.

EQUIPMENT: Ease Factor 4

INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES: M.I.6, the C.I.A., and theKGB all maintain Level 3 Station Houses here.

SUBJECT: SPECKTOR decoder, Russian Cryptological Unit

Specifications: 18"×9"×4"(estimated)

Background: Ever since the British successes at codebreaking in World War II, there has been considerable emphasis put on keeping abreast of the enemy'stechniques and technologies for sending coded messages. For most ofthe past twenty years we have known the secrets of all the commonlyused Russian codes, with the several generations of FRACKTOR and ELECKTOR decoders having been successfully reverse engineered in Britain. About six years ago, however, we started intercepting codedmessages which used a new code. We subsequently discovered that theRussians had built an entirely new decoder, the SPECKTOR. To date wehave no capacity to decode messages created using this code.

Comments: Some people believe the SPECKTOR to be a myth, but anybody who hasever been asked (as Q Branch has) to decode the top level Russian communiques in recent years will tell you it is very real. Veiled in super-secrecy, our knowledge of this elusive device comes from the few components that have been retrieved from the field plus a couple of second or third hand verbal descriptions. Suffice it to say, we need more information on the SPECKTOR. Until we have that information, the Russians will alwayshave an edge in sending high-level communications securely.

QQ Branch CompositeSketch

ME

SAJ O

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S OD

ASI

RU

SçA

KO

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LU

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SUBJECT: Preliminary dossier on Tatiana Romanova

Age: 28Height: 5'8" (estimated)Weight: 130lbs (estimated)

Current Role: Cryptographic clerk for the KGB stationhouse in Istanbul, Turkey

Background: Little is known about the past of Miss Romanova. We believe that shemay have served Soviet Intelligence in Moscow for some years as adecoder of intercepted English messages. Her past prior to this is unknown. Our contacts in Turkey suggest that she has been attached to the Istanbul KGB outpost for two to three years.

Comment: The actions of this woman (writing an unsolicited offer of defection) areextremely suspect. All caution should be exercised in pursuing her offer.

Attachments: Photograph and letter

Dearest ________, Ever since the very first time I saw your photograph in the little yellow folder, I knew that my heart was won over. Now you are all that I think about. Day and night I dream of meeting you and caressing your beautiful hair. You are all that I have ever wanted in a man.

I can take this torture no more. I write to you now to tell you that I deeply and sincerely want to come to your wonderful country, so that we can be together like we should. I know that it will not be easy to arrange, but I can bring special equipment which your government wants: a new machine called a SPECKTOR. Perhaps you have heard of it.

Come to Istanbul straight away, my love. I will contact you once you have arrived. Perhapswe can share a pleasant moment or two here before you escort me back to England.

I hunger for you. Please come soon.

Tatiana xxx

INTELLIGENCE INTERCEPT REPORT

Cipher Text Decoded Text

Intercept Date: Tue Sep 11

Intercept Frequency: Perseus/75.6

Stationhouse ID: T::> ISTANBUL

Intercepting Officer: BEY/TAKSIM

Cryptanalytical Officer: BEY/TAKSIM

Handling Code: DIST LN, LOC F

Blueberry Nuthatch Zebra Zebra

ZKJKLASDF DDFS SDFS DFSDDFLS PWL

LAQQQ GLCW IVAWECWS NU5 LFWBRA

LEEUCW LR UARANVYK LUEOIER LA

OWE TIYE UBAREYXRUIBA GLCW OKLXWS

RGWN YBSWE XKIAE AUECWUKKLBXW

QUKK EWOIER LFLUB LA DYERGWE BWQA

ID RGWUE NOCWNWBRA LCLUKLVKW

Blueberry Nuthatch Alpha Romeo

Field report for operation Thunderbolt. Op-erative located in Istanbul, Turkey.

Regular surveillance of airport has revealedarrival of M.I.6 agents yesterday. In keepingwith mission directives, have been keeping newarrivals under close observation. They havealready made contact with KB (Kerim Bey?)and thus have come under my jurisdiction.

Operative awaiting further instructions.

Victory Games IncVICTORY GAMES, INC., New York, NY 10001

©Danjaq S.A. (1961)©Eon Productions Limited / Glidrose Publications Limited (2003)

ISBN 0-912515-XX-X

FROM RUSSIA W/LOVE MODULE

ADVENTURE DESIGN

GAME SYSTEM DESIGN

Gerry Klug

WARNING: Assuming thisadventure is exactly likethe movie can be dangerousto your character!

The From Russia With Love Adventure Package contains:

• A stand-up screen containing maps of the luxurious Orient Express and its route through Europe

• An Agent's Briefing Dossier from M.I.6 with 8 Mission

Sheets that provide clues and maps for the players.

• An illustrated 68-page Gamesmaster Guide with complete instructions on running an adventure.

Love and Espionage are a deadly combination!

BRIEFING: The offer is simple: Russian beauty Tatiana Romanova has contacted M.I.6 offering a Top Secret decoder – a SPECKTOR – in exchange for sanctuary once she defects to the west. The catch? She will only hand the device over to one man, a British agent she has fallen in love with from a file photo. Your agent. Also, the trade must take place in Istanbul, the Turkish city where Tatiana works shoulder-to-shoulder with KGB agents. The set-up screams “trap” but could it be that the beautiful Russian is sincere in her offer? And even if she is not, might there be a chance to outwit whoever is behind the trap and come away with one of the most highly sought-after coding devices in the world today?

MISSION: Playing along with the apparent deception, you have been sent to Turkey to make contact with Miss Romanova. You are instructed to use “whatever means possible” to unearth the truth about her and her mysterious offer. But the situation in Istanbul is complicated – Russians and the British spies maintain a volatile cat-and-mouse game, watching every move the other makes. The M.I.6 stationhouse chief seems comfortable with this set-up, but is he too comfortable for your own good? And who is the mysterious blond man who has been watching you ever since the plane touched down? And why have the Russians recalled one of their top killers back to Istanbul? There is something going on in this city, something strange. But can you find out what it is before you end up floating dead in the Bosphorous with a KGB bullet in your back?

james bond rpg - from russia with love

Documents

adventure information

love adventure moduleis

handouts forthe adventure

agent rank characters

gamesmaster guide2

readthis booklet

throughthis booklet

nonplayer characters