Fluffywuffy
12-05-2005, 00:33
This is an OOC thread, with the intention being to create some possible spying rules. I'm not talking about the basic spy sattelite spying. I'm talking about HUMINT resources in some foreign land sending you information. It's not always the Defense Minister's wife giving away state secrets; it's sometimes a guy sitting on a beach counting warships pass by.
What is a Spy/Intelligence Officer?
A spy or intelligence officer is just that: someone who gathers intelligence for his nation. Most of us think of spies as traitors (and traitors are often spies), but other examples are just, as said above, people counting warships leaving port. Any untrained idiot can count warships leaving a port, especially if they do not stand on military property but on some nearby public access area. Spies can also be hackers invading some nation's computer system. The list is limited only by the RPer's creativity, which knows very few bounds. Even whores can be spies.
How should one set up a spy RP?
This is the purpose of the thread: to fill in this space. Common sense dictates that you telegram the potential RPer(s) and set up who or what is a spy. I would suggest you offer concessions: so and so will spy and me, and this guy spies on you. After agreeing, y'all then happily retrieve or attempt to deny information. Remember: military information is not the only information you may want. Economic, political, and various other information may be desired. If you want to know if the President of the evil nation is having an affair, sick a few agents on him.
How to get a Spy in Place
From what I've seen, many nations try and insert commandos to spy on the enemy. All who see them die, and they then go on to do basic military recon. But in the real world, most spies are not commandos, and they aren't James Bond. Most are just people trained to pick up information, in a covert fashion (brush passes, dead drops, etc.) or to find the enemy spies. Some are covered as diplomats (press attache in the embassy, perhaps?), and so cannot be arrested as they have diplomatic immunity. Others are disguised as businessmen, reporters, or even as the a citizen of the other nation. Be creative. You can even try the reverse-psychology method and have your guy be a flaming spy who is actually a smokescreen for real spies. Or you can have that village idiot really be a cunning bastard who pretends to be dumb (even to your people).
Getting spies in to most nations should be quite easy. If you simply have an embassy in that nation, you have the embassy personnel. And those personnel can be spies (a few of them, that is), even the janitor. But be warned: if you have an embassy, and you have the enemy build it (or even if you build it), they can sneak in listening devices into the walls. SO use the utmost caution and RP it at all times. Even when you have a 99% chance of not being spied upon, be paranoid anyways. It is more befitting of a spy to trust no one, even his boss.
Should I have my spies kill people?
No. Spies gather information. They do not kill people. It detracts from the main mission of gathering intelligence. Assasination attempts against a foreign guy is not likely to end well for you if they discover the attempt and/or finger you. Many will view it as an act of war. But if you are dead-set on killing someone, don't use your weapons. Don't use anything related to your weapons; they can find out what type of gun fired the bullet and then blame you. If it's a generic AK-47 made in Russia, (or better yet, a gun from one of your enemies), they can't really say the gun is yours. Also, try and make it look like terrorists or just some wacko. Everyone hates terrorists and random wackos, and everyone has at least one of each.
If you can think of anything else, please post it here.
What is a Spy/Intelligence Officer?
A spy or intelligence officer is just that: someone who gathers intelligence for his nation. Most of us think of spies as traitors (and traitors are often spies), but other examples are just, as said above, people counting warships leaving port. Any untrained idiot can count warships leaving a port, especially if they do not stand on military property but on some nearby public access area. Spies can also be hackers invading some nation's computer system. The list is limited only by the RPer's creativity, which knows very few bounds. Even whores can be spies.
How should one set up a spy RP?
This is the purpose of the thread: to fill in this space. Common sense dictates that you telegram the potential RPer(s) and set up who or what is a spy. I would suggest you offer concessions: so and so will spy and me, and this guy spies on you. After agreeing, y'all then happily retrieve or attempt to deny information. Remember: military information is not the only information you may want. Economic, political, and various other information may be desired. If you want to know if the President of the evil nation is having an affair, sick a few agents on him.
How to get a Spy in Place
From what I've seen, many nations try and insert commandos to spy on the enemy. All who see them die, and they then go on to do basic military recon. But in the real world, most spies are not commandos, and they aren't James Bond. Most are just people trained to pick up information, in a covert fashion (brush passes, dead drops, etc.) or to find the enemy spies. Some are covered as diplomats (press attache in the embassy, perhaps?), and so cannot be arrested as they have diplomatic immunity. Others are disguised as businessmen, reporters, or even as the a citizen of the other nation. Be creative. You can even try the reverse-psychology method and have your guy be a flaming spy who is actually a smokescreen for real spies. Or you can have that village idiot really be a cunning bastard who pretends to be dumb (even to your people).
Getting spies in to most nations should be quite easy. If you simply have an embassy in that nation, you have the embassy personnel. And those personnel can be spies (a few of them, that is), even the janitor. But be warned: if you have an embassy, and you have the enemy build it (or even if you build it), they can sneak in listening devices into the walls. SO use the utmost caution and RP it at all times. Even when you have a 99% chance of not being spied upon, be paranoid anyways. It is more befitting of a spy to trust no one, even his boss.
Should I have my spies kill people?
No. Spies gather information. They do not kill people. It detracts from the main mission of gathering intelligence. Assasination attempts against a foreign guy is not likely to end well for you if they discover the attempt and/or finger you. Many will view it as an act of war. But if you are dead-set on killing someone, don't use your weapons. Don't use anything related to your weapons; they can find out what type of gun fired the bullet and then blame you. If it's a generic AK-47 made in Russia, (or better yet, a gun from one of your enemies), they can't really say the gun is yours. Also, try and make it look like terrorists or just some wacko. Everyone hates terrorists and random wackos, and everyone has at least one of each.
If you can think of anything else, please post it here.