Character Creation

Character Concept

In Get Smart Now! (GSN) you play a secret agent who works for CONTROL. You are free to choose the kind of agent you want to be, from the office analyst to the cold professional killer. Hopefully, the game supports all the different kind of spies you can find in the media of the genre. For inspiration, on the Skills section there are listed some archetypical agent ideas under each of the skills.

If you are still stuck, you can get inspiration from some of the many movies, books, and TV series in the genre, serious or otherwise: James Bond, Mission Impossible, Harry Palmer, Austin Powers, Bourne, and of course Get Smart, come to mind among hundreds more.

You can also check the Example Characters section for examples and ideas.


Quirk

Your agent is a highly competent operative, elsewhere he would have been killed or fired, but on the other hand there has to be some reason why he was transferred to CONTROL, the most unimportant espionage agency in operation. Maybe he is clumsy or twisted in some way, or he has some crazy habits that drive everyone mad, or his unorthodox methods are frowned upon by his superiors. Anyway there must be something that makes the agent a misfit, if possible something funny. Remember the tone of the game is light-hearted and not-too-serious, so this is one of the places where you can go crazy and give your agent a unique memorable touch.


Identification

For security reasons, the agents don’t know each other’s names; instead they are identified by a number. Pick a number for your agent that no one else in your gaming group has chosen before. Of course the number 86 is reserved forever and no one can have this number again, ever.

You also have to pick a cover name for your agent, the name that he is currently using in the field. If you are stuck for a name, many G-Men in movies use the same name format: a common unabbreviated name and an old English occupational surname, for example: Laura Skinner, William Archer, and of course John Smith. Color names are also appropriate: Black, Brown, White… This format gives a dull, everyman feeling to the name of your agent, which is very appropriate for a secret operative who is trying not to call attention.


Description

The physical description of your agent, it can also include age, clothing style, and noticeable personality traits. It does not need to be a long description, on the contrary if you just mention two or three details about the agent, he is more likely to be easily remembered and identified by the others. Choose the things that are more likely to catch the attention of an observer.

Example: a tall and strong middle aged man, completely bald.

If you dare, draw a picture also!


Training

There are 10 skills, also called Training Fields, in which your agent can be trained:

  • Access
  • Analysis
  • Combat
  • Conditioning
  • Fieldwork
  • Infiltration
  • Influence
  • Operations
  • Special Skills
  • Systems

A description of each one can be found in the Skills section.

The skills in GSN are broader than in most FATE games, so instead of the usual FATE Pyramid of skills, we use a “column” of skills, that means you have to pick one skill at level 5, one at level 4, one at 3, one at 2, and one at 1. The rest are supposed to be at level 0.

The level means how good your agent is at this particular task, the higher is the better. It is also called score, since it represents the score your agent got when he passed the exam after receiving the training. Scores are:

  • -1 – Deficient.
  • 0 – Substandard.
  • 1 – Basic.
  • 2 – Advanced.
  • 3 – Elite.
  • 4 – Mastery.
  • 5 – Honors.
  • 6+ – Legend.

Note about Action Skills

The spy world (as portrayed in the media from where this game draws inspiration) is a place of danger and action. Shootouts and chases happen every day. For this reason it is advisable that your agent gets a Combat score of 3 or higher, elsewhere he might be easily taken out in combat situations. Even if you decide to prioritize other skills and give him a lower level in Combat, a solution can be to let him have a combat-related aspect or two that can boost his level by +2 when the situation requires it.

Also consider getting a score in Conditioning (which is used for dodging and avoiding getting shot) and Operations (which is used in chases and other fast action situations).

Of course the game can also be played from a more investigative or strategic angle, or more focused in the social interactions, social conflicts, and spy networks. If you want it that way, please feel free to ignore this advice and have fun!


Aspects

Your agent has 6 Aspects. Those are abilities and parts of the personality that are not easily described with the skills and other traits, and they make your character unique. You should use them to describe your character unique abilities, his special quirks, past, experience, specialties, personal identity, personality traits, things that are important to him, personal strenghts and weaknesses, and so on.

Your aspects can be activated (when they are relevant to the situation) to get a +2 or to grant a re-roll in any roll you make. They can also be used to declare details that change or even ret-con the situation, for example you can use your aspect “Gadget Man” to declare you had a certain gadget in your pocket (even if it was not said before).

You can also use the Aspects when you want to make your agent a specialist in some field despite he has a low score in the particular skill. For example, let’s say you want to play an agent who is not so good in Combat (he has a score of 2), but he is great at throwing daggers, then you can give him the Aspect “Knife Thrower”, and then whenever he is in a combat situation, if he uses his knives he can use the Aspect to boost his Combat skill from 2 to 4, and become a very dangerous opponent.

Your agent starts the adventure with as many Fate Points (FPs) as Aspects (usually 6), and every time you use an Aspect you consume a FP. In order to recover FPs, you need to use the Aspects against you, for this reason it’s good that your Aspects have both a positive side and a negative side (in explanation, some way in which they can cause you trouble instead of helping you), or have some Aspects that are faults rather than advantages.


Example Aspects

  • “Missed it by that much!”
  • “Sorry about that, Chief!”
  • “The old … trick.”
  • Danger Sense.
  • Explosive!
  • Femme Fatale.
  • Fervent Religious Believer.
  • Flying Dragon Technique.
  • Former Navy SEAL.
  • Hates Violence.
  • Hidden Arsenal.
  • Ice Cold Nerves.
  • Innocent Looking.
  • Mad for Speed.
  • Silent Assassin.
  • Sniper Training.
  • Strongman.
  • Well Travelled.

Stress Tracks

Your agent has 2 stress tracks:

  • Physical Stress (Health) – based on Conditioning skill.
  • Psychological Stress (Composure) – based on Operations skill.

On every track the agent has 5 stress capacity boxes, plus extra boxes depending on his score in the skill on which the track is based:

  • Level 1 or 2: +1 box.
  • Level 3 or 4: +2 boxes.
  • Level 5+: +3 boxes.
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