It was the Bad Godesburg incident that gave the proof, though the German authorities had no earthly means of knowing this. Before Bad Godesburg, there had been growing suspicion; a lot of it. But the high quality of the planning, as against the poor quality of the bomb, turned the suspicion into certainty. Sooner or later, they say in the trade, a man will sign his name. The vexation lies in the waiting.
John Le Carré, Little Drummer Girl
BBC version, dir. Park Chan-wook
The central premise is this: there is a bombmaker, a Palestinian, who uses naïve young women recruited by his younger brother to deliver the bombs. The Israelis want to stop him, so they fabricate their own naïve young woman and make it look as if the younger brother recruited her. That way, they think, the mastermind will take her on as a courier, which in turn will lead them to the bombmaker.
Not to worry, this isn't a spoiler. The whole thing's laid out in the first two chapters.
Le Carré expands on this in his short collection The Pigeon Tunnel, and in one piece (Theatre of the Real: the Villa Brigitte) describes one of his inspirations, Brigitte, a young German captured by the Israelis during a mission against Palestinian terrorists.
The door is unlocked from the other side, and a tall, beautiful woman in a prison tunic, enhanced by a tightly drawn belt, strides in with a diminutive wardress either side of her, each lightly holding an arm. Her long blonde hair is combed freely down her back. Even her prison tunic becomes her. As her wardresses withdraw, she steps forward, drops an ironic bob and, like a well-brought-up daughter of the house, extends her hand to me. "With whom do I have the honor?" she enquires in courtly German ...
There are two ideas I want to draw on here and use in Night's Black Agents: Heat as a pool, and an NPC: the Recruiter.
Heat is traditionally thought of as a kind of penalty. You accumulate Heat by doing criminal or near-criminal things, like hacking or stealing or shooting up the place. It can affect the Difficulty of tests, and it can draw extra official attention onto their poor defenseless heads.
Generally you have to do something to gain heat. Armed robbery, stealing a car, gambling with high rollers, whatever it may be, but the essence is you do a thing, you get a point, or two, or more.
What if you could voluntarily gain Heat in exchange for an improved chance of success in a General test?
Before Bad Godesburg, there had been growing suspicion; a lot of it. But the high quality of the planning, as against the poor quality of the bomb, turned the suspicion into certainty. Sooner or later, they say in the trade, a man will sign his name.
Here there was a test, probably of Explosive Devices, and something went wrong. That drew suspicion, which eventually became a certainty. The bombmaker gave himself away.
Let's say that was your Bang-and-Burner who flubbed the Devices check. Let's also say that you really, really need a success here, and that you failed the Difficulty by, oh, 2 points, why not.
What if you could buy 2 points Explosive Devices in exchange for 2 points Heat? A 1 for 1 spend.
In game terms, this is you 'signing your name.' In poker, this would be a tell. You have habits, they become known, and the authorities pick up on the clues you left behind. It's up to you what those clues are. Maybe you always use a Nokia as a detonator. Maybe you always strike at sundown, or smoke a particular brand of cigarettes whose stubbed-out remains are at the crime scene. Maybe you can't help but leave behind riddles at the scene of the crime, or the Ace of Spades, or what-have-you. Maybe, like the Pink Panthers, you always drive an Audi.
It doesn't matter what it is. The point is, you can't help but do it. By doing so you get a successful Explosive Devices check - but at what cost?
At the beginning of the session you might think it's an acceptable exchange. What's another couple points of Heat? You can buy that off - until you can't. Until Heat's at 5 or more, and making your Difficulty tests that much more difficult. Maybe it starts to feel like using your credit card to pay off your debts, until the card's maxed out and the debts aren't any smaller ...
Let's not forget that Heat is a group problem. For your 2 points, you've just burnt everyone in your general vicinity. What your fellow agents may do about that is up to them.
As Director, you may only want to allow this once per session, and follow it immediately with a Heat test if Heat has risen to 6 or more.
Now let's talk about the Recruiter.
In Little Drummer Girl the little brother, Salim, is stalking horse for his more dangerous sibling. His charm and good looks lure the couriers in, and by the time his brother gets hold of them the girls are indoctrinated.
Now, Night's Black Agents kinda handwaves the whole process by which humans are suckered into working for bloodsuckers. It's generally assumed that, if a human's involved, they're doing it for money, immortality, or both. Renfields might be in it for the blood, or addicted to blood. The mooks are in it for cash. The vampires are assumed to be charming enough to lure in their own victims.
Suppose they're not? Suppose they need someone to make the first move for them?
There isn't a Charm general pool. That role is taken by Flattery and Flirting, both of which are Investigative and therefore off-limits for NPCs. It's a good rule of thumb to apply MICE in any given interaction between Conspiracy-linked NPC and potential target - Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego. One of those, possibly more than one, is the unwatched door that will let the Recruiter in.
Cameo: Recruiter (aka the Roper)
Conceal 4, Disguise 4, Surveillance 6
Martin could be a movie star; in fact, according to him, for a little while he was. Then he got bored with the superficiality of it all. Why spend all your time in an artificial bubble when you could be out there, in the world, living? He brushes off inquiries about his past, or his present. He's an investor, a white knight, and talks knowledgably about import and export, but exactly what he imports or exports changes depending on which week it is, and he's never investing right now; he's on a kind of sabbatical, recharging his batteries. In the meantime there's so much to do and see! This week Venice, next week Delhi; his passport is the only thing he truly values. Everything else, from his luxury apartments to his stylish clothes, is so much garbage, to be used and thrown away.
In fact Martin is someone whose sole occupation in life is to seek out people who can be used. Martin may have no idea who he's working for, or he may be a willing collaborator. Either way he could care less, so long as his bills get paid at the end of the month. He lines up the mark, male or female, for his employer, feeding them whatever line they need to hear. Maybe they need cash, or need to know they're sticking it to the Man, or need a little bit of flattery to grease the wheels. Martin supplies what they need, then leads them to the people who can give them even more of what they want.
By the time that meeting happens, Martin's long gone. This week Venice, next week Delhi ...
As Asset. Able to hook the agent up with all kinds of interesting people. Martin doesn't have direct access to [whatever it may be] but he knows someone who does. His whole lifestyle depends on knowing someone who does.
As Clue. Martin knows where the bodies are buried; he helped plant some of them. For the right price, he'll turn over his little black book, full of useful contacts. Martin knows what happened to [fill in the blank] - and why.
In Play. Martin's a practiced gaslighter, and knows how to make you doubt yourself and isolate you from your friends without you ever noticing what he's up to. Always smile, always nod, and bring the conversation back to where Martin needs it to be. Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego - one of those will be the weapon he'll drive into your back, and you'll help you do it.
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