Black Hats is a slightly different setting for FUDGE. Rather than using the FUDGE rules as they were originally intended, for single-character roleplaying, Black Hats uses them for small-group level tactical gaming with a conspiratorial theme. Each player controls a conspiracy, including one or more teams of Agents and several Groups. These Agents and Groups are defined according to FUDGE mechanisms, and interact using FUDGE rules mechanics. There may be several objectives in a Black Hats game, but most will involve either achieving a certain level of control or defeating the other players.
Agents are the footsoldiers of Black Hats. Each Agent represents a team of five to ten spies, assassins, second-story men or whatnot.
Agents have four characteristics:
|
Characteristic |
Effects |
|---|---|
| Subtlety | Evading detection |
| Resilience | Resisting damage (FUDGE Damage Capacity) |
| Loyalty | Dedication to the player's conspiracy. Used to resist Bribery attempts and psychic attacks. This characteristic may fluctuate substantially within the game. |
| Versatility | Defines the number of skills the Agent may learn. Fair Versatility allows an Agent to learn four skills. Each level above Fair increases this number by one; each level below Fair decreases it by one. |
Eight skills are available to starting Agents. Additional skills may become available in the course of the game (due to the results of Research or random events). Existing Agents may be trained in these skills if they are still able to learn new skills, and new Agents recruited after new skills become available may be initially trained with these skills.
|
Skill |
Effects |
|---|---|
| Assassination | Disable a Group (a "stunning" attack) |
| Bribery | Subvert enemy Agents or Groups to your side. Expensive to use. |
| Combat | Destroy enemy Agents or Groups. |
| Indoctrinate | Increase an Agent's or Group's Loyalty temporarily. Recruit new Agents. |
| Infiltrate | Directly control a Group by inserting loyal personnel into it's hierarchy. Much cheaper than Bribery. |
| Protect | Defend Groups or Agents from enemy influence or attack. This skill only allows interception. Once an attacker has been intercepted, they must then be engaged with another skill (typically Combat). |
| Research | Develop new equipment and techniques for friendly Agents. |
| Surveillance | Identify the presence of other Agents and Groups within the Agent's Area (or beyond). |
Agents start with one skill at Fair and one skill at Mediocre. Additional skills (purchased by reducing characteristics) start at Poor at a cost of one skill level. No skills may initially start at Superb. An Agent cannot perform any skills it does not explicitly possess.
Agents do not start with any free Gifts. They may only acquire them through play. Gifts normally represent special training or equipment. Some sample Gifts are listed below:
|
Gift |
Effects |
|---|---|
| Helicopters | Agent may act against other Agents and Groups with Regional range at no penalty when using the Combat, Protect and Surveillance skills. |
| Wiretaps | +1 bonus to Protect and Surveillance skills. |
| Laboratory | Agent may not move, but gains a bonus of +1 to Research skill. |
| Cover | Identities Agent gains a +1 bonus to Subtlety against Surveillance skill attempts. |
Additional Gifts may become available as a result of successful Research, controlled Groups or random events.
Five basic Agent templates are listed below. All of them are created using the rules for creating beginning Agents above. Though players are not required to recruit Agents from any of these templates (unless the scenario rules specifically restrict them to certain templates), it will speed gameplay if they do.
| Bodyguard |
Subtlety: Mediocre, Resilience: Great, Loyalty: Good, Versatility: Mediocre Combat: Good, Protect: Good, Surveillance: Poor |
| Killer |
Subtlety: Fair, Resilience: Good, Loyalty: Good, Versatility: Mediocre Combat: Great, Assassination: Fair, Surveillance: Poor |
| Scientist |
Subtlety: Good, Resilience: Fair, Loyalty: Fair, Versatility: Good Research: Fair, Surveillance: Mediocre |
| Provocateur |
Subtlety: Great, Resilience: Mediocre, Loyalty: Fair, Versatility: Fair Infiltrate: Good, Indoctrinate: Fair, Bribery: Mediocre |
| Recon |
Subtlety: Great, Resilience: Mediocre, Loyalty: Good, Versatility: Mediocre Surveillance: Great, Protect: Mediocre, Combat: Mediocre |
Unlike Agents, Groups cannot be added into the game through player action. Groups are also static: they must remain in their starting area.
Groups have only two characteristics, a subset of those possessed by Agents:
|
Characteristic |
Effects |
|---|---|
| Resilience | Resisting damage. |
| Loyalty | Dedication to the player's Conspiracy. Used to resist Bribery and psychic attacks. May fluctuate substantially. |
Groups also have scale, which is intended to represent the size of the Group. Scale affects the income a Group produces, the ease with which it is Bribed or Infiltrated, and it's ability to resist destruction through Combat. Scale does not help a Group resist the effects of successful Assassination.
Groups do not have skills.
Most Groups will have two special Gifts: Income and Range. Income is available in levels from one to three, and represents the number of Greenbacks the Group produces for it's controller every turn (adjusted directly by Group scale: a Scale 2 Group with Income 3 produces 5 Greenbacks per turn). Range is available in three levels: Local, Regional, and Global, at a cost of 0, 1 and 2 Gifts respectively. Range defines the area in which the Group's special abilities (if any) may be applied. Local range means the Group can only act within it's starting area. Regional range allows a Group to apply it's abilities anywhere within the Region that contains it's starting area. Global range means the Group has no range restrictions in applying it's abilities.
Groups may also have other Gifts, which will be described in the Group record sheet.
As in the real world, money is quite important in Black Hats. Within the game, money is measured in greenbacks, each of which represents a substantial quantity of money or other valuable items (stocks, bonds, gemstones, fat-free snack chips, etc.).
Most Groups possess some measure of the Income Gift (a Group may have up to three levels if Income). Each turn, a Group produces income equal to it's Income Gift plus it's scale. For example, Northwest Borax Mining has an Income of 1 and a Scale of 2. Every turn, it's controller will gain 3 greenbacks from it.
Agents must be paid, and have an infuriating habit of requiring expensive equipment as well. These costs are based upon the Agent's highest attribute, according to the following table:
|
Highest Attribute |
Cost Per Turn (Greenbacks) |
|---|---|
| Superb | 7 |
| Great | 6 |
| Good | 5 |
| Fair | 4 |
| Mediocre | 3 |
| Poor | 2 |
| Terrible | 1 |
It is obviously possible to recruit a large number of very questionable Agents as a means to avoid paying significant upkeep costs. Caveat emptor.
Agents and Groups may incur additional costs as a consequence of their actions. For example, Bribery attempts by their nature cost a substantial number of Greenbacks. If these costs are upkeep costs that must be paid every turn, they are paid during the Maintain Agents phase. Otherwise, they must be paid before the corresponding action is performed. For example, the cost of a Bribery action must be paid prior to rolling the dice to determine success or failure.
Black Hats is set in the United States, sometime in the near future. The play area covers the lower 48 states, and is divided into ten Regions, which in turn are divided into several local Areas (typically cities).
All Agents and Groups have a Range to determine the extent of their ability to affect other Agents and Groups. By default, Range is local: the Agent or Group is only able to act against Agents and Groups within the same Area. Regional Range allows an Agent or Group to affect others within any Area in the same Region. Global range allows an Agent or Group to affect any other Agent or Group, regardless of location. In general, Agents are only able to gain greater than local Range through special Gifts (special equipment or improved abilities), and may only have increased Range for special purposes. For example, an Agent may normally attack another Agent or Group (with the Combat skill) with local Range, but an Agent equipped with the Helicopters Gift may use Combat with regional Range, launching attacks against Agents or Groups in other Areas of the same Region.
Only Agents may move from one Area or Region to another. Within each Region, there are two special Areas: a wilderness Area and a gateway Area. As it's action, an Agent may make a single move, from the following choices:
Certain Gifts may allow an Agent to move in other ways.
There are ten Regions, each containing up to five Areas. They are summarized in the table below.
|
Region |
Areas |
|---|---|
| Northeast | Boston, New York (gateway), Adirondacks (wilderness) |
| East Coast | Washington, Philadelphia (gateway), Raliegh, Appalachia (wilderness) |
| Sunbelt | Atlanta, Memphis, Miami (gateway), Okeefenokee (wilderness) |
| Midwest | Wichita, St. Louis (gateway), Breadbasket (wilderness) |
| Southeast | Phoenix, Dallas (gateway), Houston, Roswell, Llano Escatado (wilderness) |
| West Coast | Los Angeles (gateway), San Diego, San Francisco, Mojave Desert (wilderness) |
| North | Bismarck (gateway), Dakota Badlands (wilderness), Montana (wilderness) |
| Central | Chicago (gateway), Detroit, Minneapolis, Great Lakes (wilderness) |
| Mountain | Denver (gateway), Salt Lake City, Rocky Mountains (wilderness) |
| Northwest | Seattle (gateway), Portland, Cascades (wilderness) |
Each Agent may perform one action per turn (though certain Gifts may modify this number). Some Groups may be able to perform actions, if allowed to by any of their Gifts. Groups that are able to act will normally be able to perform one action per turn, though this may also vary. If an Agent's or Group's action requires a target, that target must be within the Agent's or Group's range (described above under Local, Regional and Global).
The various types of actions an Agent may perform are defined by the Agent's skills. If an Agent does not possess a skill, the Agent may not perform any actions requiring that skill. The mechanics for skilled actions are described below.
Spotting is done with the Surveillance skill. The spotting Agent must specify which Area within it's range it is examining and what it is looking for: other Agents or Group control relationships. In either case, the Agent makes a test against it's Surveillance skill. If detecting Agents, the level of success is compared against the Subtlety of all other Agents in the Area. The spotting Agent detects all other Agents with a Subtlety less than the level of success. If attempting to detect Group control, the level of success is compared against the Loyalty of all controlled Groups (appropriately modified). The spotting Agent identifies the controlling Conspiracy for all Groups with a Loyalty less than the level of success.
Once an Agent or Group has been spotted, it remains spotted until it moves out of the Area or successfully uses an action to hide. If a Group's allegiance changes after it has been spotted, the spotting Agent will not know until it makes another successful spotting attempt.
Combat is done with the Combat skill. It must be directed against a Group or Agent that has been spotted and is within the Agent's range. Any Agent engaging in Combat is automatically spotted by all other Agents in the Area.
Combat is performed as an opposed roll between the attacking Agent's Combat skill (modified by weapons or other Gifts) and the defender's Combat skill or Resilience attribute -2 (if the defender does not possess the Combat skill). The winner inflicts damage based upon the relative degree of success, the different scales of the combatants, and any equipment (Gifts) possessed by the combatants, as described in the FUDGE rules. Wounds are based upon the table below:
| Scratch | Hurt | Very Hurt | Incapacitated | Eliminated |
| 1, 2 | 3, 4 | 5, 6 | 7, 8 | 9+ |
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Assassination attempts may be performed against Groups, but not Agents. The purpose of Assassination is to disable a Group by eliminating selected members of it's hierarchy. Performing an Assassination requires the Assassination skill.
An Assassination attempt is an Opposed Roll between the acting Agent's Assassination skill and the target Group's (modified) Loyalty. If the Assassination attempt is successful, a damage factor is calculated based upon the relative degree of success and any Gifts possessed by either the acting Agent or the target Group that specifically influence Assassination damage. The scale of the target Group does not affect Assassination attempts. The amount of time the Group is incapacitated is based uopn the damage inflicted:
| 1 Turn | 2 Turns | 3 Turns |
| 1, 2, 3 | 4, 5, 6 | 7+ |
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An incapacitated Group may not take any actions, and cannot provide any passive benefits to it's controlling Conspiracy (e.g, a Group that gives +2 to Surveillance attempts within it's Region does not provide this benefit if it is incapacitated).
The Bribery skill is required to perform Bribery attempts. Bribery attempts may be made against either Agents or Groups. A basic Bribery attempt is an Opposed roll between the acting Agent's Bribery skill and the target Agent's or Group's Loyalty. A Bribery attempt will always cost at least 10 greenbacks. Paying an additional 10 greenbacks will give the attempt a +1 bonus. Paying an additional 30 greenbacks will give the attempt a +2 bonus. The defender may pay 5 Greenbacks to give +1 to the target's resistance, or 15 Greenbacks to give +2 to the target's resistance.
If the Bribery attempt is successful, the allegiance of the target changes to the acting player's Conspiracy. The target may not take any actions until the acting player's next turn.
Indoctrination attempts are made with the Indoctrinate skill. Indoctrination attempts may be made against either Agents or Groups within the acting player's Conspiracy. The Indoctrinating Agent must make a skill check with a quality better than the target Agent's or Group's current modified Loyalty. If the skill check is successful, the target's Loyalty gains a +1 bonus. Loyalty may be increased in this manner up to +2 beyond it's normal level. Indoctrination attempts do not cost Greenbacks to perform.
Infiltration and Subversion are both performed with the Infiltrate skill. Infiltration may only be used against Groups. An Infiltration attempt costs 5 greenbacks, and is an Opposed roll between the acting Agent's Infiltrate skill and the target Group's Loyalty. The target Group gains a bonus to it's Loyalty equal to it's scale. Additional money cannot be added to Infiltration attempts. If the Infiltration attempt is successful, the Group's allegiance changes to the acting player's Conspiracy. The target may not take any actions until the acting player's next turn.
Subversion attempts are used to reduce the Loyalty of target Agents and Groups. A Subversion attempt costs 5 greenbacks. Paying an additional 5 greenbacks gives a +1 to the attempt. Paying an additional 15 greenbacks gives a +2 to the attempt. The Subversion attempt is an Opposed roll between the acting Agent's Infiltrate skill and the target Agent's or Group's Loyalty (including a bonus for scale). If the Subversion attempt is successful, the target's Loyalty is reduced by one until it's owner improves it. Multiple subversion attempts may be made against a target, but only one per turn. If a Bribery or Infiltration attempt is made against a Group or Agent in the same turn as a Subversion attempt, the Group or Agent resists with it's Loyalty before the Subversion attempt.
The Protection skill is used to interfere with Combat, Assassination, Bribery, and Infiltration attempts. During the acting player's turn, a Group is set to Protect either a single Group or Agent at normal skill, or all friendly Groups and Agents within an Area at a -2 penalty to skill. If any unfriendly Agent attempts to take an action against a Protected Agent or Group, the Protecting Agent makes a test against it's Protection skill. If the result of this test is at least as good as the acting Agent's Subtlety attribute, then the acting Agent has been intercepted and is in Combat with the Protecting Agent. If the acting Agent is able to beat (inflict damage upon) the Protecting Agent, it may then continue on to attempt it's original action. Otherwise, the original action is cancelled and the acting Agent may not act again until it's controller's next turn.
The tc skill is used for two purposes: increasing the technological level of the acting Agent's Conspiracy in one of several areas (described below), or developing specific technological abilities within an area.
An Agent may increase his Conspiracy's technological level in one area by making a Research roll at least as good as the desired technological level. For example, a Conspiracy currently has Finance technology at Fair. An Agent with Great Research attempts to increase this to Good. The Agent rolls -1 on 4dF, giving a result of Good. This is equal to the desired technology level, so the Conspiracy's Finance technology increases to Good. Each attempt to increase a technology level costs 5 Greenbacks.
The procedure for developing a new ability is similar. Each ability is rated at a given technological level. A Conspiracy must have the appropriate technology area at at least that level to be able to research the ability. An Agent must then make a Research check with a result at least as good as the technological level of the ability. Each attempt to develop an ability costs 5 Greenbacks. Note that in some cases, developing a new technological ability does not automatically grant any new powers: additional Greenbacks (or other costs) must be paid to derive any benefits. This is particularly true of technological abilities that represent new equipment.
Loyalty represents both the depth of allegiance of a Group or Agent to it's controlling Conspiracy and the difficulty of changing that allegiance. When an Agent or Group first enters a player's Conspiracy, it's Loyalty is unmodified from it's base value. Subversion attempts (described above) may decrease Loyalty by applying negative modifiers. Indoctrination (also described above) may increase Loyalty by applying positive modifiers. Regardless of how an Agent's or a Group's Loyalty is modified, some Gifts and skills will be resisted by basic Loyalty: neither Subversion nor Indoctrination have any effect upon these Gifts. For example, psychic attacks normally work against basic Loyalty.
Training is used to recruit additional Agents and improve the skills and attributes of existing Agents. Training cannot be used to alter Group attributes.
Improving an existing Agent requires an Indoctrinate skill check with a quality equal to the desired new level. The Indoctrinate check may be made by either the Agent to be improved or another Agent within range. Each check costs 5 Greenbacks.
Recruiting a new Agent costs 10 Greenbacks and does not require a skill check. However, another Agent may attempt an Indoctrinate check to increase one of the new Agent's attributes or skills. This check is successful if the Agent is able to obtain a quality at least equal to the desired new level. Attempting to improve a new recruit's skills in this manner does not incur any additional cost beyond the normal recruitment cost.
Areas of technology: Finance, Weapons, Psionics, Information Management, Psychology, Transportation, Occultism. Each Conspiracy is rated in each area, from Terrible to Superb. There are specific technologies within each area, each of which requires a certain level of ability in that area. Thus, Databases is a Fair technology in the Information Management area; a Conspiracy must have at least Fair Information Management before it's Agents can attempt to research Databases.
There should be about five or six technologies in each area, with Conspiracies starting by default at Poor in each area. Increasing an area's rating requires an Agent to perform a Research task that succeeds with a level higher than the Conspiracy's current level. Learning a new technology requires an Agent to perform a Research task, achieving a success level higher than the level of the technology. Thus, to gain access to Databases requires an Agent to make a Research check with a level of Good or better.