Spies (mage V20)
Spies
A collection of little birds in various nests keeps you well- informed. These informants aren’t necessarily your friends – they may, in fact, hate you with the burning intensity of a thousand fiery suns. For the moment, though, you have something they want: money, sex, drugs, magick, whatever. In return for that indulgence, they’ll tell you what they know.
Spies come in many different forms: disgruntled associates, dismayed staff, jaded groupies, desperate addicts, loyal acolytes of your cause, folks who owe you favors, people who’d be in very deep trouble without you, opportunists who like the color of your money, lovers who want to stay on your good side... Certain mad scientists and Technocrats even have special critters or tiny robots who report back to them. Whatever your relationship to these spies might be, however, they could turn against you if you’re not careful. Money, magick, better drugs, the threat of torture – all these things and more might flip your spies into someone else’s service. And even if they do remain loyal to you, your spies can be misled with false data or mistaken impressions of what’s really going on. They know only what they’re able to see.
Systems-wise, this Trait lets you ferret out information (Intelligence + Spies); circulate misinformation, diversions, and lies (Manipulation + Spies); impress people from a distance (Charisma + Spies); or note potential threats before they solidify (Perception + Spies). A true spymaster can command well above five dots in this Trait, which explains the frightening influence of certain Hermetics, Technocrats, vigilantes, and criminal minds.
- X -- No special informants.
- • -- One or two spies in helpful places – the police, the Mob, Wall Street, etc.
- •• -- Four to six informants in various helpful areas.
- ••• -- A handful of spies in helpful places, plus a few in hard-to-reach areas (the Pentagon, the CIA, the UN, etc.), or one or two in highly secure areas (a Technocratic Symposium, a Tradition Chantry, a classified government bureau, etc.).
- •••• -- Infiltrators in a whole sphere of influence (the underworld, a nation’s government, the international stock market, etc.), or a handful in a Construct, Chantry, vampire clan, werewolf tribe, and so forth.
- ••••• -- Eyes and ears throughout the Sleeper world, or several contacts in the supernatural realm.
- ••••• • -- You’ve got a small news industry or intelligence agency on your payroll, and it has some perspective on supernatural affairs as well.
- ••••• •• -- Beyond the hundreds of contacts you have in the mortal world, you’ve got plenty of “friends” scattered throughout the supernatural realm.
- ••••• ••• -- You’ve got an entire intelligence agency fielding and processing information for you.
- ••••• •••• -- Big Brother.
- ••••• ••••• -- Big Brother on a global scale.
