This work presents a bizarre fusion of military covert operations and comic book capers and yet - unless you are a die-hard realist - it works! In fact, even if you are a die-hard realist it takes little more than stripping off the silly names and as much of the exotic equipment as you are uncomfortable with to still get it to work.

Opening with a history of the United States Headquarters for Eminent Risk Oversight and a timeline of some of their major operations, we're soon immersed in the current structure and operational landscape of H.E.R.O. Somewhere along the line they have acquired an enemy organisation (over and above normal bogey-men like Communists and more recently terrorists) and this is the main focus of present-day skirmishing. This enemy is called National Military Exports (N.M.E.) and in true comic book style, H.E.R.O. operatives wear green uniforms and N.M.E. ones have blue uniforms. (Does N.M.E. mean something special, I wonder? The only acronym I know is a UK music magazie, the New Musical Express that's always known by its initials...)

Both H.E.R.O. and N.M.E. are presented as Spycraft 2.0 'factions' with all the associated game mechanics - so you can choose a side with ease. If you fancy N.M.E. or just need to know more about them, there's a potted history of how they came about, led by an insane megalomaniac who calls himself the Arch-Enemy. Calls himself that, mark you, it's not an epithet his opponents coined for him! Building N.M.E. up from a small private security contractor to its current state, they are apparently behind such 'incidents' as Three Mile Island, the first Palestinian Intifada, the Ethiopian famine, the Challenger tragedy, the War on Drugs, the Tiananmen Square massacre, Big Hair Bands, the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the Exxon Valdez oil spill and 9/11 - plenty here for a conspiracy theorist to get their teeth into.

Just in case these two factions are not enough, there are three more - the Morrigna Corporation (arms dealers), the Shirobikou clan (ninjas), and the Wreckers (a biker gang) - to spin into the mix. All much smaller, they shift allegiances as it suits them, allies one day, opponents the next... or maybe playing both sides at once.

Next comes all the details you need to build a character who is part of one or another of these factions, but with the apparent assumption that you'll be joining H.E.R.O. As well as lots of build hints, there's new material: new master classes, new feats... and lots of new toys! Much of this material will be of use whether or not you want to run this setting. If you enjoy cinematic action movies and want your characters swooping in on a monowing or a jet pack, this is the place to look. There's a vast array of vehicles and weapons to choose from, complete with brief descriptions and a chart with all the game mechanics you need to use them in play.

This is followed by various tables to help you administrate the faction mechanics Renown and Allegience. There are rank charts for each of the five factions so that you may measure your progress in them.

Then we get down to the real stuff: how to run a 'Real American H.E.R.O.es' campaign. It needs to be cinematic, larger-than-life and a bit black and white - clear distinctions between the Good Guys and the Bad Sorts. Big threats, high stakes and big action scenes in thrilling locations. Themes, objectives, a 'diabolical plot generator' (yes, really!) and even a system for creating handy McGuffins are explored. Finally, there's a whole bunch of NPCs from all five factions to sling into the melee.

Taken in a spirit of fun, this larger-than-life approach can prove very entertaining. Don't try and take it seriously - if you want to game that way, mine this for the bits you want and put them into a different setting. All good fun...

The Firebrand is an interesting expert class, one that would be rather fun to play if you have the gift of the gab because at the core, this character is a rabble-rouser. He knows all the right buttons to press to get people worked up - and if he gets tired of espionage he could always retire to politics!

There are plenty of roles such an individual could fill, and some are suggested here. However, many might be better suited to an NPC unless your campaign is structured carefully to accommodate your Firebrand. From revolutionary to political activist or corporate raider (just a few of the suggested roles) it's quite easy to see how to weave a plot around him, less easy to know just what to do with him if your plot is about something else entirely.

Understandibly, the core attribute is Charisma, with Wisdom and Intelligence following along behind. There are plenty of interesting and useful class abilities to fit the Firebrand up as a figurehead that can sway the hearts and minds of those who hear him.

The game mechanics you'll need to run this character are provided: the usual table plus suggested feats and three new ones - the 'Cameraderie' tree which is used to enhance group combat by letting members of the team support each other better. There are also ideas for building the character, including different sorts of Firebrands depending on their origins - one who started life as a Pointman might have a completely different approach than one who was a Fixer or a Scientist, for example.

It is an interesting concept, used well in adventures that will make use of the Firebrand's particular talents it could prove memorable.

This is a rundown of contemporary Chinese small arms, which have been developed in isolation due to embargoes imposed on China in response to human rights violations. Just how useful it's going to be depends on whether the action in your game will visit mainland China, or someone from there might turn up elsewhere.

Starting with a plethora of different service pistols, there are also details of submachine guns, various kinds of rifles (bolt action, semi-automatic and assault), squad automatic weapons, machine guns, grenade launchers and mortars. Each comes with a quite detailed description as well as an entry in the master table at the back that gives all the game statistics. If public order is your reason for arming up, there is a collection of non-lethal loads for the riot gun (which is, for some reason, hiding amongst the machine guns).

The usual grumble of no illustrations aside, this is an interesting look at an arsenal that has developed in isolation from Western gun research. As they are real weapons, you can quite easily find pictures online, though.

This short supplement introduces an expert class called the Runner... but no athlete, he. Forget running-and-gunning, this runner is a 'netrunner' scampering along the information superhighway, getting into all the places he should not and copying (or destroying) that which others might wish to keep quiet. For profit or through ideology, it matters little. But he is not the traditional hacker lurking in his Mom's basement, this Runner is adept at physical infiltration as well.

All the usual information necessary to plan, build and play a character are provided. Intelligence is the primary attribute, but closely followed by Charisma and Dexterity. The Charisma is important because his core ability is Social Engineering - the art of getting information out of people rather than their computers (how else do you find out passwords without doing a brute force attack?) that is too often forgotten in fictional portrayals of hacker types. One, especially, of the class attributes is rather neat too - it's called Twitch and gives defence and initiative bonuses based on spending too much time dodging virtual bullets when playing first-person shooter video games!

There are plenty of other neat features, as well as notes on playing such a character, good feat and gear selections and a few new feats that ought to come in useful.

My main Spycraft character is a hacker type who's generally happier in the van maintaining contact with the rest of the party via headsets. This might just tempt him out...

This short supplement presents a new expert class, one designed to provide a character with the same unstoppable and violent determination as shown by movie action heroes like Casey Ryback (Under Siege) or John McClane (the Die Hard series)... indeed although not mentioned by name McLean is referenced within the class abilities!

This character is designed as a tough combatant ready to both hand out damage and absorb a good deal, so unsurprisingly Constitution is his most important attribute, with Dexterity or Strength (depending on his preference for gunplay or fisticuffs) coming next. He has plenty of hit points, and will probably need them. Most of the class abilities are built around standing up (often alone) to overwhelming numbers of opponents... and include 'Yippee-Ki-Yay' (the McClane reference) which gives a defensive bonus for the rest of the scene after a critical success is scored with a skill use or attack and the character comes out with his catchphrase.

As well as all the game mechanics you need to generate and play a One Man Army character, there are notes on suitable talents and specialties to select and on playing him to best effect. There are also several new feats based around working with a partner as well as suggestions for existing ones that you might like to consider choosing.

Ideal for those who enjoy full-on cinematic action this is an interesting class to consider developing into as a campaign proceeds.

Weapons technology is always moving on, so in some ways this is an update to Bag Full of Guns: This is my Rifle (published 2006 - this work came out two years later in 2008), and it should prove of interest to any character who has a vacant space in his gun cabinet.

It starts by offering a few new weapon qualities - like camouflaged (it's painted to blend in with a chosen terrain), modular (you can swap out parts of the system without recourse to an armourer's shop) and minimum range (think of a rocket-propelled grendade - they travel a preset distance before they arm, much safer for the firer) and a few others. And so on to the weapons themselves, beginning with a sub-machine gun and a huge sniper rifle designed for use against light vehicles and strengthened positions. An assortment of other sniper rifles follows, then on to assault rifles, a bolt-action rifle, semi-automatic shotguns and heavy machine guns. Plenty of firepower to hand when you need it.

Next comes some new ammunition types and weapon upgrades, followed by a couple of new body armours and a few useful gadgets. Now the Boomerang Acoustic Shooter Detection System, which helps you pinpoint that rascal who's taking potshots at you, was apparently developed in 2004 - although I recall something similar (if a bit more low-tech) being used in Northern Ireland in 1978! Nothing new under the sun, it seems. Finally there's a high tech personal battle management system called Land Warrior (in the US version, several other nations have devised similar systems) that puts a lot of information at the soldier's fingertips whilst still leaving him free to fight.

Each item gets a paragraph or two about what it offers (and how well) as well as an entry in the tables at the back with all the game mechanics you need to incorporate it into play. No pictures, alas, but as most are 'real world' developments you can find them online if you want to know what they look like and even read the manufacturer's advertising blurb for them!

You can never have too much firepower, and there are some interesting weapons here, as well as other equipment that is useful in combat.

The way in which equipment and resources in general are handled by Spycraft has always been a little odd. In real-world espionage, an agent going on an operation is treated in one of two ways, he either is rather grudgingly handed minimal kit and is expected to get on with it or (if his agency is desperate to get the job done) he will have equipment and resources galore offered to him and anything else he needs he'll merely have to ask for... Yet the core rules offer systems of 'gear picks' that require a fair bit of resource-juggling when preparing for a mission. The one bit the rules got 'right' (in real-world terms) is that agents are expected to return everything they've been issued, or account for its loss.

Here is an assortment of ideas designed to enable agents to build up, over time, their own personal (and personalised) equipment - something real-world spies like to do - and even to profit from their adventures materially. After all, not every agent is playing the Great Game out of pure patriotism or even a love of excitement. Here three mini-systems are presented which can be used in conjunction, or you can pick which ones suit your game style and discard the rest. The three systems are the Stockpile system, the Cash'n'Carry system and the Loot system. Depending on which you use, campaign characterists may change as well as the way in which equipment and other parts of the rules function.

The Stockpile system lets characters keep any item with which they are issued on a permanent basis, rather than having to hand it in every time they return from an operation. If you use the formal Intel Phase, that remains (but can be dropped if you prefer), and characters are still limited as to what they possess. Anything designated as a Restricted item cannot normally become a personal possession and will still be loaned out, if you're lucky, when the nature of the operation indicates that it might be of use. The agent's regular equipment is determined at character creation, by rolling Possessions and Gear Picks together and converting the Gear Picks to actual items. Any option taken that provides an item or an extra Gear Pick is included in the total at this point. At the end of a mission, the stockpile refreshes, i.e. anything lost is replaced. It's still a very mechanical system but it does allow for some continuity.

The Cash'n'Carry system caters to those who prefer cold hard cash to abstract gear systems. Gear picks are translated into monetary terms, and characters then have to purchase what they want with that money. Again, this system can be used to allow characters to keep a core or regular equipment (hence you use either Stockpile or Cash'n'Carry, not both). Characters now have to pay for their Lifestyle choice on a regular basis (rent, grocery bills and the like) but they receive a regular income as well as 'starting cash' with which to do so. They can even save - or splash out - as they please. Again, Restricted items may not be acquired during initial purchases, characters will need to get hold of any they want during the course of play - and if not stealing them will have to pay for them. When it comes to a mission, characters receive a sum of money (wages, expenses, term them what you will) that can be used to purchase items required for that mission and to pay regular bills. Characters may also be required to pay for training. It is still a mechanical system, but some players may prefer the added realism of thinking in terms of money. It also makes it easier to add in new items of equipment provided you can find a real-world price for them. Even if, like me, you live somewhere you cannot go out and purchase firearms legally, there's always the Internet to research overseas gun stores for tasty new 'toys' and their prices!

Finally, the Loot system accounts for all those Restricted items that a character may want to acquire and hang on to but which both the core rules and the rest of the material presented here do not permit. Again, however, it is a rather mechanical system with artificial restrictions, whither you are using Stockpile or Cash'n'Carry to determine what characters normally have.

It all depends on how you want to run your game. If you like cinematic spies, consider how James Bond always stops in to see Q before a mission (and sometimes has a mid-mission 'care package' delivered if the need arises)... and cash never seems to be a problem, except possibly at the gaming tables. If your style is more realistic, how much cash and gear people have needs to be monitored more closely although incomes may be generous. Using a mechanical system is one way to keep checks and balances on what characters may have, but can detract from enjoyment as well. There are interesting ideas here, consider them carefully and use what works for your group.

This supplement is for those who'd like to bring real horror to their Spycraft 2.0 game. The main thrust of the book is horror of the supernatural nature, perhaps you want to mix in a bit of the Cthulhu mythos or other such monsters from beyond, but much could be utilised if you are seeking gritty realism, the sort of fear and horror that quite turns the mind and which can be imagined as part of a real-world espionage story.

To start with there are a selection of campaign qualities with which to set the tone that you want. These determine which aspects of the rules presented here you will use. If you want characters who are scared of the consequences of the sort of things they will have to do, consider using the basic classes from Back to Basics - they are less capable, and can be used to generate the feeling of 'I could die at any moment'... just the kind of thought no spy wants to have when embarking on an operation! Or you may wish to mix in occult knowledge and spellcasting for a quite different kind of horror.

To model the toll that such fear takes on characters, an expanded set of rules for stress damage are presented, making minds as vulnerable (if not more so) than bodies. This causes characters to sustain mental damage - in terms of phobias, mental disorders and even catatonia - as a result of the horrors to which they are exposed. Care needs to be taken here, most players find it far easier to cope with their characters sustaining physical injury (it's only hit points on the character sheet after all, they do not feel the pain) than anything that messes with their minds. To be run successfully, players and GC need to be in accord: even more so once a character sustains lasting mental damage which has to be role-played, it is not something purely represented in game mechanics.

Especially effective when created as a collaborative effort between GC and player, an Unhinged Subplot can be developed and run over the next few sessions culminating (you hope!) in a resolution that will help the character regain his sanity in a manner that also contributes to the ongoing storyline.

A whole slew of things which can cause a character to get stressed out are listed. Many assumes a rather less heroic approach than the classic spy/thriller one, casting the characters as mere ordinary folk rather than the larger than life heroes that normally inhabit a game, especially one like Spycraft. Then the discussion moves on to Forbidden Knowledge - arcane secrets it is probably best not to delve into... only you know how curious characters are, and they may need this knowledge to defeat the threat that they are up against.

Throughout, there are examples and suggestions of ways in which to incorporated different kinds of horror into your game. There is also a collection of monsters and cosmic horrors, if that is the direction you wish to take.

This style of game will not be for everyone, and other groups may prefer to switch to a different game system that's built around such horror from the ground up... yet if you like the spy genre and Spycraft in particular the way that these rules work embeds the horror into the core game mechanics rather than bolting it on as an afterthought.

If combat is the high spot of your game, especially if you like it cinematic and exciting, this resource supplies a lot of ideas (complete, of course, with appropriate game mechanics) to make it even more exciting and spectacularly cinematic. It does these through character options and feats, enabling each character to develop his own personal combat style by focussing on particular weapons and techniques. Characters can pick up advanced actions and tricks in place of taking new weapon proficiencies as they rise in level.

Naturally, you can do the same thing with NPCs - you want your antagonists to be able to put up a good fight after all, and to be memorable foes. A mechanism is provided for building this in to quick NPCs, whilst those you wish to detail in full - your major opponents - will use the same rules as characters. Either can use any of the various tricks and techniques presented here, of course.

The range of ideas presented is quite varied, including plenty of unarmed techniques for the brawlers (or martial artists) as well as ones to enhance gunplay for runners and gunners. There are even delightful quirks like Exhibition Shooting, which allows you to target items or scenery with a spectacular shot, showing off - 'That could have been your head!' as you demolish a statue for example.

Each trick - and there are 53 of them - has a descriptive paragraph showing how it works along with the necessary rules information to make it happen around your gaming table. They are also summarised in a chart for quick reference.

If that wasn't enough there is also a whole bunch of feats - basic combat feats, melee feats, ranged feats and unarmed combat ones - that you can take to further customise your fighting style. Many relate to mastery with particular weapons, and some even allow you to recover - more or less gracefully - from rolling a 1 when you attack!

These are somewhat mechanistic and best suited to those groups who'd like to be cinematic but who prefer to play out combat strictly according to the rules. If you tend to free-form and let things flow, relying on player descriptions of actions rather than stepping mechanically through each round of combat, this may be of less use - but it's still worth a look if only to understand how the rules can be made to support whatever it is that you want to do.

In this second installment of the Bag Full of Guns series, we take a look at weapons coming from the Soviet Union and latterly Russia, some of the more unusual items stemming from innovative research rather than the more mundane Russian weapons to be found in the core Spycraft 2.0 rulebook.

The idea is that weapon designers were seeking to achieve the twin goals of penetrating power and silence in weapons designed for use in a range of situations including underwater! There's a new weapon quality Submersible to reflect this, which allows firearms with this quality limited effectiveness when submerged, a situation in which most regular firearms are useless: even if they will fire the bullet is so slowed by water resistance that it is very little threat.

The first weapon is not strictly speaking a firearm at all, it's a ballistic knife which looks like a regular combat knife only you can 'fire' the blade using a strong spring in the handle. It has limited range and apparently is woefully inaccurate (not to mention leaving you empty-handed!) so I'm not sure what use it is. Surprise factor, maybe?

Next up, a couple of small holdout pistols including one specifically designed to be silent. Using a sub-sonic round and various engineering tricks to minimise the sound of the mechanism when firing it is pretty quiet. These are followed by several service pistols and revolvers for handgunners who need a bit more stopping power. This collection includes a bizarre-sounding underwater pistol, the Tsniitochmach SPP-1M Underwater Pistol. From the description it looks quite weird... and it actually exists so you can find pictures of it (alas, there isn't an illustration here). It uses a hydrodynamic effect called supercavitation to enable its projectile to travel further than a regular one would when underwater.

A collection of sub-machine guns, assault rifles and semi-automatic rifles follows. Again, however weird they sound, most were actually made and even worked! Each weapon is given a fairly detailed description and there are full game statistics in a big chart at the back.

If your game includes Russian agents they may have used some of these (or at least heard of them) but the real fun will probably come when your characters mount a raid underwater and the defenders pop up with these odd-looking firearms that actually shoot reasonably effectively underwater!

The premise of this book is straightforward: to provide a coherent background for modern espionage games that is realistic but imaginary enough to avoid problems such as the real security services coming round to check out your terrorist plot or anyone's real-world sensitivities being offended (after 9/11 my group requested that I never run an aircraft hijack scenario, for example). The introduction explains all this, and is quite fascinating reading now, as when it was published in 2007, Crafty Games had only recently formed as the Spycraft team moved from Alderac Entertainment Group to set up their own company.

Chapter 1: Little World Lost sets a very bleak scene in which everyone - and their governments - seem to have lost their way. Before you say that this is pretty much what the world has become, no - this is darker and more cynical, with some key differences including an underlying dark plot or two... and your characters have the capacity to do something about it. The discussion then launches into an alternate history beginning in 1945 and tracing through the Cold War and beyond, similar to what really occured but with underlying differences that grow and tangle as America, Russia, the UK, China and European organised criminals all circle around each other, plots and counterplots abounding. It's a fascinating and convoluted tale, with just enough rooting in reality to sound plausible, ending with a global wave of terrorist attacks that leads to speculations about the wisdom of forming a world government...

This has led to the formation - or at least revelation - of several organisations. Some mirror real-world organisations and others really do exist. Each gets a paragraph of background, enough to set the scene and let you see who's who. There's also an impressive collection of operations which may (or may not) have been carried out by these organisations, or parties unknown.

And so on to Chapter 2: Traces of Terror. This starts off by discussing the point that most folks don't consider themselves to be 'evil' even when others see them that way... and that things get even murkier in the world of espionage. Not to mention the massive public relations teams that assorted organisations have on hand to make sure that the public believe what they want them to believe, rather than the truth. This chapter is also a chance to meet some of the major players, ones who stay out of sight but have a vast influence on events. It also presents much of the chilling alternate history of recent days within the setting's timeline, establishing the background against which your games will run and your characters operate. Reading through this can send plot ideas spiralling through your mind, and enough is left open-ended that it is possible to start weaving your own ideas through it without tension or the danger of disrupting what is written here. And then there is the utter weirdness of the Eternals. Incorporate them if you want supernatural elements or leave them out entirely, it's all modular enough to allow for this flexibility.

Next comes Chapter 3: Tradecraft. This is all about the things spies do and, crucially, how they go about doing them. Assassination, intelligence gathering, recruitment, subversion and more, they're all here. There are notes on how intelligence organisations function and the day-to-day lives of their operatives. Some of it is even correct... but all of it makes for a good cinematic spy game. There's masses here: tactics for buildings clearance, building cover identities, disguise, even cryptology... (I recall once before this book came out, running a convention game that involved a code - one of the players turned out to be a cryptographer and breezed through that part of the adventure!). There's even advice on legal considerations of the spying game and what to do if you're compromised... and a comprehensive collection of spy jargon so that you can sound the part (if you want to admit to being a spy, that is!). The chapter ends with a fine collection of references - books, films and TV shows that will aid you in presenting this semi-real version of the Great Game convincingly.

Finally, Chapter 4: New Rules presents a wealth of new game mechanics to enhance your game. There are new base and expert classes, the concept of the master class, new campaign qualities and much, much more. New talents and specialities allow you to fine-tune your character, and there are some cinematic combat feats to choose from, other types of feat (gear, style, chase, etc.) not being neglected either. Some of this material is applicable to the World on Fire setting but most can be mixed in to whatever Spycraft game you are running. If you are using this setting, there is rules-based detail on the three 'villainous' factions - the 'Good Guys' are left for future sourcebooks (which didn't materialise, alas) and there are resources for creating notable NPCs as well as full rundowns on some major players in the setting.

Overall, it is an intriguing setting while the Tradecraft and Rules sections are of such quality and general application the book is well worth a look even if you want to run your games in a different setting, or in your version of the real world.

Artwork is great, game mechanics are fine, easily adapted to GURPS or d20 game systems if you wanted to. I love that throughout the book there are insights and specifics given by Brandon Sanderson on the world, characters and how things work from his point of view. This alone made it worth the price.

I purchased this game at my local store about a year ago and can’t recommend it enough.

It’s absolutely excellent. Well written, produced, illustrated and designed, with a real sense of imagination and adventure. Created to help parents introduce their kids to roleplaying, I’d have to say it’s the best roleplaying product I’ve seen in ages, far superior to 99% of the other RPGs that the industry keeps cranking out.

Well worth the download.

As I've mentioned already, this booklet is hurt by a lack of illustrations and with some surprising gaps in coverage. However, it is a good supplement for players who already own a guide to weapons in the D20 system.

I agree with everything JD S said -- not enough illustrations hurt the product.