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Bureau 13 intro
Bureau 13 is a fictional top-secret government agency which investigates and combats supernatural events, featured in the eponymous role-playing game (RPG) series. The Bureau's motto is "Protecting America from Everything". Stalking the Night Fantastic is a Bureau 13 horror game released by Tri Tac Games in 1983.
Contents
- Bureau 13 intro
- Bureau 13 gameplay pc game 1995
- Background
- Role play style
- Current games
- Spin offs
- Video game
- References
In 1991, the Bureau 13 series won the Gamers Choice Award at Gencon for best Fantasy Game. In 2008 a new d20 Modern edition was released. The series has a definite tongue in cheek attitude that is emphasized by both the background stories and the illustrations.
Bureau 13 gameplay pc game 1995
Background
Bureau 13 (the 13th Bureau of the Justice Department) was founded in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln to deal with supernatural and paranormal threats to the Union (and suppress any public knowledge of them). The original agents were a motley crew of military personnel, Pinkerton detectives, civilian consultants, freed slaves, paroled criminals, and even Confederate prisoners of war.
After the war, The Bureau had access to a large budget and limitless resources. Safe houses and caches of equipment were stockpiled across the country. The headquarters in Washington, D.C. later became the East Coast office. A West Coast office was created in Silver City, New Mexico Territory to speed up response times to threats on the frontier. After the Indian Wars and the settling of the West, Bureau 13 found itself involved in threats outside the United States, providing its services during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.
On 7 July 1977, a highly coordinated attack destroyed the main offices and killed hundreds of agents in what was later dubbed the "'77 Massacre". The organization splintered into groups of survivors that took years to reform. The remaining agents decided to go underground as a cell-based network. Gradually they began to create networks of "friendlies" - assets and sympathizers that would help the Bureau when called upon. As the number of original agents retired or died, the "friendlies" started to be promoted to agent status. Most agents encountered are usually civilians who received their training on the job.
The job of Bureau 13 is as it has always been. Investigate the strange or unusual, analyze the evidence to see if there is a supernatural or paranormal cause, and assess whether the cause is hostile or dangerous.
Role-play style
Bureau 13 tends to have a weird, humorous or satirical bent to it. Another factor is that the characters are usually mundane civilians rather than commandos or Men In Black. They don't usually have a lot of military or espionage skills.
Current games
Spin-offs
Nick Pollotta has published five novels set in the Bureau 13 universe:
Video game
GameTek published a video game based on the role-playing game in 1995. Depending on which agents the player picked and how they handled people they encountered, the mission would go differently.