Mail Room: Ninjas & Superspies

This was the game that was cooler than Top Secret (original or SI) back in the day. It's even cooler than the James Bond 007 game. Because you had to be a ninja, and it wasn't just this pen-and-paper write rules for it sort of thing; this was researched heavily and even delved into the culture and heritage of many martial arts. It did the homework, paid respect to the cultures behind the lifestyles, and did so without seeming like a game, throwing in a "martial arts" skill and calling it a day.

It showed you the path, and you felt inspired to walk it and engage in spiritual and physical self-improvement. This was a different sort of game, one that a kid could use as a gateway for learning more about the cultures and history of the East and exploring that world.

Oh, and you could play a soldier, private eye, Inspector Gadget, James Bond, Chuck Norris, Terminator, Robocop, Rambo, Commando, John McClain, or any other cool 1980s movie trope with this game. This game was really "The 1980s Action Movie Game", complete with ninjas. You can design spy, evil, governmental, or law enforcement agencies with a handy design system. It had vehicle combat.

And it was overshadowed at our table by Rifts, TMNT, and many other Palladium games, and became the "spy and cyborg book" add-on guide for many of those campaigns. I still like the idea of the action movie "ninja and spy world" in the multiverse, permanently stuck in the 1980s, but the martial arts parts of this book are really timeless and a great resource.

More on this one soon as well, but another cool book came in the mail today.

Originally published 3/15/22 on the SPRPG blog.