Berlin '61 (BRP Monograph)

[Mysterioso]

Has anyone given this BRP monograph a try? If so, how different are the BRP rules it uses from those as found in CoC? (Or how much more of the yellow book does it use than CoC?) Can the monograph be easily used ("straight out of the box") for non-Mythos spy games? Or is it very tied to its take on the Mythos and thus needs a lot of work to say run three or four games of non-Mythos spy games before something Mythos creeps in?

[MikeC]

I bought a copy of it, and it is rather an interesting setting. Though it is marketed as a bridge between CoC and BRP, I think it is very much a BRP product, straddling as it does the spy and super-hero genres (though it is much more a spy setting a la 60s era James Bond or MAN FROM UNCLE). The setting is rather reminiscent of the RPG COLD CITY, actually (which I highly recommend you pick up, as it has some of the best game mechanics to encourage role playing I have ever seen, but that's as maybe). You could very easily take out the weirdness from the book, though, as use the historical background of Berlin for a spy game.

MikeC

[Mysterioso]

Thanks!

Character generation is the biggest thing for me. Does Berlin '61 set up some different types of spy characters types (agent, handler, technician, etc.) and some spy specific skills? What I'd love is for it to do what the WoC article so excellently did for the Old West; set up a bunch of character archetypes for the espionage genre and a few rules tweaks for the genre. With that, I think it would be pretty straight forward to run a few games doing if nothing else a conversion of some old stuff from TSR's Top Secret.

[Steff Worthington]

I have 'Cold City' so I'll pass.


with respect to the author it does seem a little like Cold City with the numbers filed off.

[rylehNC]

Does Berlin '61 set up some different types of spy characters types (agent, handler, technician, etc.) and some spy specific skills?

There are character archetypes for many typical residents of the city, but only two for spies (eastern and western), and some additional ideas for characters of certain nationalities (US, UK, USSR, French, East German & West German). A fair number of period weapons are detailed as well, but little in the way of clandestine equipment.

[Mysterioso]

Thanks. It does not seem what I want from the way you describe it. I may revisit it later.

[MikeC]

Though it is a bit pricey (even if you buy it as a PDF), the BRP MODERN EQUIPMENT GUIDE has some info on modern era spy-type equipment (no modern weapons).

MikeC

[DrummerDave]

Overall, I was not impressed with Berlin 61, especially, as mentioned, after reading Cold City (which has its own issues).

Aside from the content, Berlin 61 has some serious layout, art, and editing issues, that overall contribute to less than par book.

If you really want to have everything you can about the period, then I say get it, if only because those sorts of books are few and far between. But if your interest is passing, I say Cold City is all you need.