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Covert Ops Role Playing Game $7.99
Average Rating:4.7 / 5
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Michael M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/16/2016 22:06:08

I was looking for something to replace my Top Secret RPG. After some looking arounf I cam across Covert Ops. Its actually not bad and has some neat features (players design organization, headquaters). Still deciding how much I like the combing of skills uses under each a sklll. I have played two sessions and it game flow and task resolution mechanics are sound.

Having played d20 and d% espionage RPG I find this game to be a welcome change for anyone looking for something new to try. And you can not beat the price for such a high quality product.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by William V. H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/12/2015 11:50:24

This is a great system IF you're wanting to run wide-open espionage games in the style of James Bond or Matt Bourne. If you're looking for more gritty stuff, Covert Ops doesn't really fit the bill. That's fine, of course, but players and GMs need to be aware of the differences.

I found these rules to be especially suited for a Mission: Impossible or Bourne style of game; something where there's a lot of very fluid action and a character's cover identity isn't intended to last more than a few seconds. If you're aiming for a game in the style of the movie Ronin or the like, you may have trouble making these rules work in a satisfactory way. I'm also not a fan of character archetypes of the sort used here, although they do make for fairly quick character creation and fit in well with a Mission: Impossible type of game. The "Bones" system for altering rolls and some game outcomes is quite useful...something that I think is needed in any modern system without magic.

In short - good game if you're looking for something fast-paced and fluid. Not so good if you're looking for something in the vein of the original Top Secret rules. It's also not as elegant as the James Bond RPG system, but a big step above Top Secret/SI.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Paul L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/26/2014 09:15:19

Love this game. I bought the core book and then came back for the extras. Great rule system. Simple but not too simple. I needed a lighter rules rpg to run with my friends and this fits that slot nicely.

This rpg deserves all the positive ratings it is getting. I like reading this on my iPad too. I plan on buying the other Basic Fantasy rpg they have made as well after seeing the high quality in this one. It is well worth the price they are asking and I am very happy with my purchase.

I can't wait to see what rpg they come up with next. Big fan after picking Covert Ops up. I will continue to by their products based on this one.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Joey M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/16/2014 13:19:15

I cant recommend this game enough if you want to run espionage or paramilitary style games. The system is fast and intuitive. There is even a supplement Neumann protocol that brings Covert ops into the future, great for cyberpunk.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/20/2014 18:22:31

More excellent gaming goodness courtesy of DWD Studios!

This particular version is highly recommended as you get the Core Rules, the GM's Operation Manual and The Usual Suspects all in one handsomely presented hard bound book. That said, you really can't go wrong with any of the options.

There's a ton of material here and everything is open enough that you can run all types of spy/thriller/espionage games without ever needing another book.

These guys continue to deliver a heck of a gaming punch by releasing games that are easy on the budget while providing an unbelievable amount of very high quality content.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out BareBones Fantasy too. It's an excellent fantasy game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Jay S. A. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 01/08/2014 02:07:11

Once again DwD Studios manages to wow me with the simplicity and elegance of a game. Using the same system from Barebones Fantasy, Covert Ops takes on the espionage genre and delivers maximum fun for minimum complexity.

Covert Ops is an excellent beginner game in the sense that the mechanics are easy enough to understand and teach so that even a new player with no experience with rpgs, but a good handle on the espionage genre can get in on the fun with a minimum of fuss.

One other thing to note is that the Covert Ops product has a whole bunch of pdfs, including a Core Rulebook and a GM Operations Manual and The Usual Suspects, a book on NPCs.

Core Rulebook

Character creation is easy to follow, but surprisingly robust, with a large list of possible backgrounds to support all sorts of characters. Skills function similarly to Barebones Fantasy, where each “skill” functions as a skill group and are used in any situation where that concept is applicable. The Medic skill for example could be used for anything from applying emergency first aid, to studying the nature of a dangrous engineered virus that the bad guys plan to unleash onto the population.

As with all Espionage games, Covert Ops features a neat equipment section that covers everything from equipment packs to cover identities. A neat little trick is that players are also allowed to invent gadgets with GM permission. No complicated accounting here, gadgets are merely costed according to plausibility with modern technlology. Guns and vehicles are also listed here, with respective examples.

Martial Arts is also represented well by Covert Ops, with a large selection of special maneuvers that players can roll for or select from.

Base creation is also covered with a simple point-buy system that is made available to player characters who have reached rank 4. It’s a neat little subsystem that works well for the genre and gives the players an extra sense of ownership over the setting.

The GM guidelines section is very comprehensive, which is a godsend for any espionage GM. There’s plenty of tables to roll for making a mission, getting henchmen and other useful little details especially in a genre where GMs really have to think on their feet.

The last part of the book details SECTOR, a mysterious international paramilitary and counter-espionage organization as a default organization for players to operate in. It’s a neat little hook to have a group of well armed operatives from any nationality able to team up and deal with the evils of the modern world.

GM Operations Manual

This book is an addition 112 pages of alternative rules and guidelines expressly aimed at helping GMs with run Covert Ops. I won’t go into exhaustive detail, but I will say that this is one of the handiest GM handbooks I’ve read in a while.

Each of the options opens up the game to different variants and offers neat ways to customize and tailor fit the game to different gaming groups. The language is accessible and when used properly as options, can go a long way to enhancing the already fun and experience of a Covert Ops game with a cost of a minimal increase in complexity.

The Usual Suspects

The last book in the set is a collection of starting character archetypes and experienced agents for use in a game. The starting archetypes are all rather neat and cover a wide range of character concepts so I’m sure it will be easy for anyone to just grab one and go. The Experienced agents will be handy for a GM to use if they need to put in an experienced agent to work with the player characters as well

Everything Else

Along with the books, the set also contains a Character Sheet, Outfitting Reference Sheet, Enemy Organization Worksheet, Mission Generation Worksheet, an optional Hit Location damage tracking sheet and Development Point checklist for making DP awards easy.

Conclusion

DwD Studios knocks this one right out of the park. Covert Ops delivers an incredible amount of value for its cost and hits all the things I look for in a game: good rules, good art, good layout and options to make the game your own. GMs are supported beyond just a simple chapter at the end, and the game can do anything from Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell to G.I. Joe.

Few games can deliver this kind of value for money and yet DwD Studios does it effortlessly. Great job, guys, this one is a definite must buy for me.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Andrew S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/03/2014 21:28:07

A fantastic addition to the already impressive work DwD are doing. Rules light, but not without crunch where needed!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Kyle W. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/11/2013 22:21:49

Covert Ops is a rules-light game of espionage and intrigue that is a great choice for quality and value. In a day and age when basically everything has been released as a supplement, it packs a surprising amount of content, it includes not only a hundred-and-change page core rulebook but a similarly long GM's guide, as well as a bulky portfolio of pre-made characters and a ton of additional goodies, such as printable initiative cards, to round out the deal.Of course, having a lot of content doesn't necessarily make something good. Fortunately, that is of little concern here; while there are some small issues in the game's presentation (for instance, how skills work is a little unclear until well after you've first seen them, which had me scratching my head until all was made clear), it is by and large incredibly solid. While it doesn't necessarily have anything spectacular and unique to earn it the title of being a highly original work, it's still a collection of many features that come together to feel like a good espionage game.

My main caution to people looking at this is that it is rules-light, with all that entails. If you're looking to handle things down to a minute detail, you won't necessarily enjoy this, though its d00 system uses percentile dice and can be easily expanded upon to add more granularity if that's a necessity for you and your group. There's a couple things that are notably lacking; social skills are intended to be resolved by roleplaying (the GM's guide contains an extended ruleset that codifies this), though since skills are so intrinsically linked to the players' attributes this isn't a huge issue, as it's generally going to be sufficient to just use attributes in their place (Will and Logic, as well as the Detective skill, being the obvious stand-ins).

Typesetting wise, there's not a whole lot of innovation, but the book is solid and legible. There's enough art to keep one's eyes from beginning to doze off, but not so much that it becomes distracting, and it's of generally high quality. There's a couple typos (most egregiously "Weinmar Republic"), but these don't detract too much from the quality of the game as a whole and are rare enough to make them pretty negligible in the context of the whole game.

As far as the GM advice goes, Covert Ops includes a lot of contingencies and guides for being a rules-lite game, and includes random generation for basically everything you could need to use; while it's not going to compete with hand-made content, a GM short on time or pressed by a plot twist can pretty readily find whatever they need even if they're suffering from writer's block. The advice to GM's both is great from a general roleplaying perspective (for instance, covering how to keep the table organized and moving forward) and assisting with the espionage/spycraft genre, literary conventions, and other things that will prove invaluable for those who really want to craft a good game with an eye to detail and meaning.

I'd have no problem recommending Covert Ops to anyone. With a lot of content for $10; a great focus on the genre; and a quick, fast, and fulfilling system, Covert Ops is a solid entry in the market, though I'd caution prospective modders and remixers that the CC BY-NC-SA only covers the text (the URL in the book, as of my writing, is wrong, but you can find the full text of the license on the site) and not other parts of the book.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Embarrassing! I hate it when typos gets through editing (self-editing, colleague editing, and even a paid editor)! Thanks for pointing out that particularly egregious one. \"Weimar Republic\" will be fixed in any future edits. Thanks for the great review!
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Covert Ops Role Playing Game
Publisher: DwD Studios
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/10/2013 19:02:15

Once again, DWD Studios has brought us one of the best values in gaming. COVERT OPS is a game of modern day paramilitary and espionage action, using the d00Lite rules found in their previous blockbuster "BareBones Fantasy." And, once again, don't be fooled by the "lite." The game plays quick, the rules are tight and the character creation is fast. But, boy oh boy, did they deliver on content.

Fans of BareBones Fantasy will be completely at home in this d100-based system. Professions as Skills, streamlined combat and open advancement are still the foundations of the game. What's been added is tons of content for the modern setting: weapon and gear payouts, background options for character origins, martial arts fighting styles, vehicle chase rules... everything you'd need is here.

For the GM, DWD does not fail to deliver on the awesome tools and tables they're known for. Go in with just an idea of what you want, roll some dice and before you know it... an entire adventure, stocked with baddies, traps and sinister villains (and their organizations) are ready for your agents to topple.

The Core Rulebook alone is great, but with the PDF bundle you get A TON MORE. The GM Operations Manual will help you add and modify the game to your liking, with plenty of optional content to tack on. The Usual Suspects provides dossiers of common NPC archetypes at all levels of play. You're also getting plenty of hand outs and extras in the PDF bundle. Even the Hardcover PDF is a steal, considering you can shell out the same price for an incomplete title from most big name publishers, where here you're getting one of the most solid stand alone products to come out this year.

And the presentation is awesome. Very well edited, very concise rules and the layout is very pleasing to the eyes. PDF moguls will be happy to see these books load quickly and not bog down their preferred reading platforms, as well as to see how well the manual flows and has all the proper book markings you'd expect.

Like I've praised them before with BBF, COVERT OPS is a labor of love from a couple guys, who managed to bring us a title that hands down deserves to sit on our bookshelves among the bigger industry names. If you enjoyed BBF, you'll love this game. If you're looking for a solid modern day action game, you need this title. If you're the GM without much time to prep, this game has you covered (and your players would never know.) If you're the kind of GM who wants to tinker, the rules are released under CC-BY-NC-SA.

TL;DR -- This game rocks, and you won't be disappointed.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
thank you for the great review!
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