What would a modernized N&SS setting look like?

[Nekira Sudacne]

This is a general question for fun. Lets face it, the setting of Ninja's and Superspies, such as it is, and what there is of it, is horribly outdated. It was a product written in the late 80's to mash the 80's Kung-Fu Movie craze togeather with Cold-War Spy movies and novels, a genre which even at the time had already peaked in the 60's (Although by no means dead).

Then wouldn't you know it, whoops, a few years later the Cold War is over and a bankrupt Soviet Union isn't sponsoring multi-billion dollar spy organizations anymore. And the Super Technology is, with the exception of Bionics, laughably behind modern tech (Heck, plenty of the tech was dated at the time of it's release).

Pretty much everyone I've seen who uses it, either uses it as a supplement to other palladium systems, or uses it for a Retro-Asthetic, actually placing the game in the 80's or earlier.

So the question is: What if you went the other way. What if you tried to run Ninja's and Superspys in a modern setting.

How do spys deal with ubitious cell phones? how do they use them?

How would the world react to Kung-fu battles doing clearly superhuman feats?

What would gimmicked super tech look like beyond the tech we already have?

What on earth does the MMA scene look like when some old monk did in fact come out of the Moutians and kick everyone's ass with Chi powers?

These are just some ideas. There's no need to present a coherent vision, just throwing out ideas is plenty of good fun

[Jefffar]

Well for years I thought that Ninjas and Superspies plus the Megaversal update of Recon could come together in the atmosphere of the GWOT quite nicely.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Hmm! That could work. Still the Unsung Heroes, most people will never know all the Terrorist attacks that didn't happen due to the heroism of the brave and all, but not tied to the specific cold-war era assumptions.

[Jefffar]

It makes it hard to play up the Ninjas angle so much, but not impossible

[darthauthor]

Good Questions.

1. How do spys deal with ubitious cell phones?

I imagine like radios or computers.

How do they use them? See above

2. How would the world react to Kung-fu battles doing clearly superhuman feats?

The same way they would if heroes from Beyond the Supernatural. First, disbelief that a Kung-fu/Martials Arts fight was anything but a couple of MMA fighters. Even with video people would probably believe it was staged. If Chi powers are used witnesses would be told they are exaggerating or were watching stunt fighers performing a magic trick. If on video people would explain it as special effects or CGI.
The internet/YouTube has a lot of amazing mishap and stunt videos that are hard to believe if you were not watching and even afterwards you wonder how many times they had to do it to get it right.

After years of investigation and such it some experts may endorse that such things are possible if you can find a teacher who would accept you as their student and dedictated yourself to it for 10 years or more. Before, during and after frauds would be online offering lucky you (if you act fast now) a chance to pay them a non-refundable fortune to teach you how to unlock your martail art superpowers. After enough of the frauds are debunked the conscensus amongest the press and public would probably be it was never real to begin with. Besides, even if such powers existed what would you do if you had them. Most people don't have time, between work and family, to study martial arts. Withou 10 years of "free" time and a teacher who knows how most people have would have a better chance of getting the Gold Medel in the Olympics.
Those few who had such powers and abilities would probably be require to register with the State government as though they had a weapon like a gun. While I can only imagine some fancy government agency would police such people and try to recruit them to teach or something. No one needs martial art super powers to stop a drug lord. Although the stealth abilities would be very useful for smugglers, theives, terrorists, and infiltraitors. Atemi would make one an incredible assassin. While Chi powers and such would seem like one had an invisible power to heal or harm others and such.

What would gimmicked super tech look like beyond the tech we already have?

Imagine a James Bond movie, 20 years from now. There is always a watch, lighter, pen and a car that defies physics. The gimmick tech is Batman's utility belt. It is an explanation to get past an obstacle or escape without violance or superman strength. It exists for the player character can operate as an undercover agent while they 007 the encounter.

What on earth does the MMA scene look like when some old monk did in fact come out of the Moutians and kick everyone's ass with Chi powers?

With a lot of assumptions that they can get someone on the MMA scene to fight them in the ring, after the first fighter is destroyed. No one else would fight him.

Very Respectfully

[kiralon]

So the question is: What if you went the other way. What if you tried to run Ninja's and Superspys in a modern setting.
- It works if you borrow some stuff from other things (games/movies).

How do spys deal with ubiquitous cell phones? how do they use them?
- Jaw implants with either hud glasses or cyber eyes. Poor spies get an apple watch. No spy uses a device that can be easily stolen. The OBC is no longer an ibm 086 with 16kb of ram. Wireless access to cell network, also their own connections to private satellites, and implants to hack into the civilian network.

How would the world react to Kung-fu battles doing clearly superhuman feats?
- Big spy agencies have media control divisions to block/belittle online records. Deepfakes are a thing now so a lot gets blamed on this.

What would gimmicked super tech look like beyond the tech we already have?
- cyberpunk

What on earth does the MMA scene look like when some old monk did in fact come out of the mountains and kick everyone's ass with Chi powers?
- Not much, the organisations who keep check on the media talk to the monk, and then if he is still rambunctious see if he can stop a drone swarm from killing him (originally it was the high powered rifle from a distance away). They then prove that it didn't happen. Same with cybernetic feats. Its a shadow war, and all the sides will kick you if you try to take it out of the shadows.


I must say though my games tend to be more megaversal, with a bit of HU, a smattering of BtS and a glimpse of nightbane and a dash of robotech depending on what is happening. I am about to start another quick campaign with a private eye and a worldly martial artist who will be investigating a new drug that might give slight supernaturalish powers to takers (especially as massive doses seems to increase strength and altered mental states).

[green.nova343]

This is a general question for fun. Lets face it, the setting of Ninja's and Superspies, such as it is, and what there is of it, is horribly outdated. It was a product written in the late 80's to mash the 80's Kung-Fu Movie craze togeather with Cold-War Spy movies and novels, a genre which even at the time had already peaked in the 60's (Although by no means dead).

Then wouldn't you know it, whoops, a few years later the Cold War is over and a bankrupt Soviet Union isn't sponsoring multi-billion dollar spy organizations anymore. And the Super Technology is, with the exception of Bionics, laughably behind modern tech (Heck, plenty of the tech was dated at the time of it's release).

Pretty much everyone I've seen who uses it, either uses it as a supplement to other palladium systems, or uses it for a Retro-Asthetic, actually placing the game in the 80's or earlier.

So the question is: What if you went the other way. What if you tried to run Ninja's and Superspys in a modern setting.

How do spys deal with ubitious cell phones? how do they use them?

Same way they would use the wrist radios & other gadgets. Specially encrypted cellphones/smartphones when absolutely needed, but the rest of the time they would follow the examples of criminals (especially from TV shows & movies): burner phones, accounts tied to alias emails & fake identities, use of code phrases in case the NSA/GRU/FSB/some other intel agency is listening in (phrase-based codes are notoriously difficult to break, even if recorded in the clear, simply because if you don't know exactly what the code phrase means you don't know if it's an actual code phrase or just an innocent statement).

How would the world react to Kung-fu battles doing clearly superhuman feats?

As others stated, most likely the same way they would respond to HU characters & superpowers, or the use of cybernetics by agents. These aren't things the average person can do, so they would be "extraordinary". But even if the existence of super-powered individuals made them less shocking, they would still be surprising to a regular non-powered person.

What would gimmicked super tech look like beyond the tech we already have?

Biggest thing would probably still be miniaturization. Sure, some of the microchip tech listed in N&SS is now dated as originally presented...but some of it you can see as being the forerunner of a lot of our modern-day tech (the "laser chip", for example, is obviously now much smaller & used in DVD/Blu-Ray drives). Advanced tech would be just that: either equal in performance to standard consumer tech (but miniaturized & smaller), or would be more powerful & effective if still at the same size as the consumer tech. Or it could simply be that it's the size & power of consumer tech, but ruggedized as much or more so than military tech (miltech usually sacrificing power & performance to be "ruggedized").

What on earth does the MMA scene look like when some old monk did in fact come out of the Moutians and kick everyone's ass with Chi powers?

Probably like the "Unlimited Wrestling" leagues from Marvel Comics. I remember once where some demon or sorceror was accidentally released, & while fighting the Defenders it came across Ben Grimm (aka The Thing), who had taken a break from the F4 & was involved in a wrestling match. The bad guy thought Ben was a demon because of how "ugly" he was, but soon realized Ben was "only" super-powered, not infused with demonic power. Or think of the various Street Fighter anime shows & movies based on the game, where you have Chi-powered athletes fighting each other instead of non-powered MMA athletes. Could be a great hook for a spy, trying to infiltrate an underground fighting tournament.

These are just some ideas. There's no need to present a coherent vision, just throwing out ideas is plenty of good fun

As an aside, apparently "Tempest" shielding didn't go the way of the CRT, & is not only alive & well for LED monitors but can be used on smartphones as well (
https://www.ndss-symposium.org/wp-content/uploads/ndss2021_4B-2_23021_paper.pdf; https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/new-glowworm-attack-recovers-audio-from-devices-power-leds/).

[Mercalocalypse]

I just finished a long campaign in a modern/slightly futuristic NSS setting. I have adapted NSS to modern settings for years. Obviously some of the rules need to be tweaked for modern tech, weapons ....etc

I have also went the opposite direction and used NSS rules to run a campaign set in 1969 Vietnam with the intent to move it into the 70s and 80s fight against terrorism.

The bones of the system are there and are only limited by the GMs imagination/research.

[Grammarsalad]

I just finished a long campaign in a modern/slightly futuristic NSS setting. I have adapted NSS to modern settings for years. Obviously some of the rules need to be tweaked for modern tech, weapons ....etc

I have also went the opposite direction and used NSS rules to run a campaign set in 1969 Vietnam with the intent to move it into the 70s and 80s fight against terrorism.

The bones of the system are there and are only limited by the GMs imagination/research.

Ohh, I'd love details.

[Mercalocalypse]

The bones of the system are there and are only limited by the GMs imagination/research.

Ohh, I'd love details.[/quote]

DM me your Discord and I'll invite you to the server.

[NMI]

Good thing we are back into a Cold War again. This time with China and to an extent North Korea. I suppose you could say we are in a Cold War with Russia as well.

[Mercalocalypse]

Good thing we are back into a Cold War again. This time with China and to an extent North Korea. I suppose you could say we are in a Cold War with Russia as well.

Definitely. My campaign was mostly set in Africa, with the PC's dodging local militias, Russian GRU and Chinese SOF and intelligence.