Role-playing any aspect of war is always a bit tricky, but good opportunities are provided by spies and saboteurs, who operate independently in small groups - just like the average party of characters - and generally get into enough danger and excitement to keep any player happy! Some may find World War 2 just a little bit recent, you may have parents or grandparents who were caught up in it, but if that's not an issue for you and your group the exploits of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) behind enemy lines in Europe ought to keep you busy.

The Introduction provides some background about the formation of the British SOE and the American OSS, and leads into the first chapter, The War Against Fascist Tyranny, which summarises the events leading up to the war between Nazi Germany and the Allies and then major events of the war in Europe and Africa with the aim of providing a backdrop against which your campaign can be played out. This account runs right through to the final German surrender in 1945, so you can pick your date knowing what happened before it... and what ought to happen next, provided the party's actions don't change anything major, that is. Always the problem when you mess with real history!

Next is The Nations of Europe, which explains the position of each nation - belligerent, conquered, or neutral - as they were in mid-1941, which is when the SOE began clandestine operations. (America did not join the war until the end of 1941, but was already laying groundwork and forming the OSS in anticipation of becoming involved.) There are notes on both offical government positions and those who sympathised with either the Allies or the Nazis, many of whom formed 'resistance' movements. Espionage was, of course, rife with 'neutral' countries such as Portugal being prime targets for both sides.

Then on to the meat of the matter with the chapter SOE and OSS: The Clandestine War. Interestingly both men and women were recruited and participated in missions behind enemy lines, thus leaving it open to players to choose male or female characters without restrictions. This chapter covers training and the dangers that they faced in the field - and how to avoid them. Details of the various organisations arrayed against them are also given - this part in particular lurches a rather ungainly path between what the average SOE/OSS operator would know and bits which are GM-only information.

Background established, we then move on to the all-important Creating a Special Ops Hero. The game uses a custom game mechanic, the One-10 System, in which a single d10 is required for play. Each character has Attributes (Intelligence, Perception, Charisma, Strength, Agility and Stamina) on a 1-5 scale, derived by an elegant mixture of point-buy and die-roll. There are various derived Attributes as well, which you can work out once you have the main ones sorted. Characters are assumed to start at age 21, by which time they will already have got some training and/or experience under their belts. If they want to be older, they will have more skill points to play with. There are no 'character classes' in this system, a character is defined by his skills, from which there is an extensive list to choose using a point-buy system. There's also an option to have a 'tradecraft' package of skills reflecting what is learned in SOE/OSS training. Character background becomes important too, letting you understand which countries the characters is familiar with and which languages he speaks. Modifications can be gained from a system of Qualities and Quirks that is well-designed. Throughout, there are little comments from the author about why he chose to set up the mechanics in particular ways, quite illuminating and evidence of the clear and coherent thought that went into the system. In deciding what your character is like, remember that a fit young male really ought to be in the military, wandering around behind enemy lines posing as a civilian may raise questions from the outset. As an aside, I knew an SOE agent who looked and acted as if he was really stupid - he actually was a very smart man - a wonderful cover for clandestine operations!

Now that you have a character, how is he played? The next chapter, Using Skills and Attributes, explains just that. To resolve any action, you roll 1d10 and add to it applicable Skill Ratings (the skill you are using plus the controlling Attribute and any other modifiers) against a Task Difficulty Level appropriate to what you are attempting - if you exceed it, you have succeeded. Sometimes it is appropriate to use the Attribute alone, if no skill is relevant (or you don't happen to have the right skill but are giving it a go anyway). There are plenty of examples and explanations to make it all clear; along with explanations of the various skills available. A separate chapter covers Combat, Injury and Healing, which often loom large in a game. Combat is played out in rounds, with each participant going in initiative order - initiative is an inherent quality of each character, rather than something you roll when a brawl breaks out. Damage depends on the weapon used, each has a base damage value, but you add however many points your attack total exceeded the Task Difficulty Level (a standard 7) to that, so a spectacularly skillful roll does more damage. Neat. Vehicle chases are also covered here.

This is followed by a chapter on Equipping Your Hero, which most concentrates on weapons and other items useful for conducting clandestine operations... including, of course, that used by Axis forces that might be acquired during the course of a mission. Next is a collection of NPCs in the Common Foes and Allies chapter, all ready for use, and six fully-detailed pre-generated characters for those who want to jump straight in to the last part of the book, an adventure entitled The Spanish General.

This work combines an elegant game mechanic with a coherent and well-presented setting for which you should be able to find inspiration from both history and popular fiction in books and on the screen.

Return to Set Europe Ablaze Core Rulebook page.

Reviewed: 14 July 2015