8/4/2019 Nights Black Agents Layout Taster

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Likewise, the Director builds the enemy network

the people and groups the vampires have already

turned to their ends to her own specifcations.

Ten the Director sends the vampires, and their

own agents, and their pawns and tools and ghouls

and monsters, to kill you. Te goal both yours and

the Directors is action, and horror, and the special

thrills that only spy stories can deliver.

Troughout a typical Nights Black Agents cam-

paign, the agents:

Uncover the extent o the vampire conspir-

acy, mapping its branches and personnel

Survive attacks by the vampires or their min-

ions and pawns Discover the vampires weaknesses and true

nature

Detect and prevent ongoing and ad hoc vam-

pire or conspiratorial operations

Weaken the vampire conspiracy by striking

at its main branches or key personnel

Finally, destroy the vampires at the heart o

the conspiracy

Any o these goals might provide the direction, the

spine, the through-line, o a scenario or adventure,

usually reerred to in this game as an operation. One

operation may take many sessions o game play; 2 or 3sessions per scenario is normal.

Te Director, meanwhile, plots out the structure

o the vampire conspiracy, and plans both active

and reactive operations to test the agents and reveal

the plot. Active operations are the ones where the

agents are moving orward against the vampires:

investigating their conspiracy, thwarting its goals, and

attacking it. Reactive operations are the ones where

the vampires are moving orward: attacking some

other group, infltrating some new city, or hunting the

agents directly.

In poker, tells are those little gestures or changes o

expression that tell whats in your hand. Tis is where

I tell whats in your hands.

Tis game, Nights Black Agents, adapts the

GUMSHOE engine to the propulsive paranoia o the

spy thriller genre: not just James Bond, but also and

especially flms like Ronin and the Bourne trilogy. You

build agents worthy o such flms; tough, resource-

ul, clever, deadly in a word, badass. Ten you send

them to kill vampires.

Te Director (who plays the role usually called the

DM or the GM in other RPGs), begins by building the

vampires. InNights Black Agents, the vampires and

their conspiracy are modular, customizable. In one

Directors world, they might ear garlic and crosses

in another Directors campaign, they might be spider-

like aliens who move through hyperspace. Or both.

TELLSThe Cold War? Over.

The War on Terror? Over for you.You used to uncover secrets, or maybe kill to keep

them. You used to serve your country in the shadows,

doing things or stopping things that couldnt be

shown in daylight or on the evening news.

Then you stopped. Maybe you got tired, or maybe

you got burned, or maybe you got out while you could.

But you didnt go into the daylight. Not just yet.

You stayed in the shadows, in Europes deniable

underground networks o crime and confict, but you

did it on your terms. You did a ew ops, and you asked

ewer questions. You worked or money in secret

accounts, and or people you didnt know.But they werent people. It turned out they

couldnt be shown in daylight or on the evening news

either. Because they were vampires.

And now you know. And they know that you know.

Vampires exist. What can they do? Who do they

own? Where is sae? How much is legend, and what

is the truth? You dont know those answers yet.

So youd better start asking questions and picking

targets. You have to trace the bloodsuckers opera-

tions, penetrate their networks, ollow their trail, and

target their weak points. Because i you dont hunt

them, they will hunt you. And they will kill you.Or worse.

You must mount your own shadow war, on a

secret terror that only you know exists. Stay alert,

and stay awake. Its going to be a long night.

Another Sample SidebarYou used to uncover secrets, or maybe kill to

keep them. You used to serve your country in the

shadows, doing things or stopping things that

couldnt be shown in daylight or on the evening news.

Then you stopped. Maybe you got tired, or maybe

you got burned, or maybe you got out while you could.

But you didnt go into the daylight. Not just yet.