Review of Classified: Operation Rogue Lion

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After being blown away by the rules, I must say that I was very much eager to read the premier adventure of the Classified RPG. Sadly, the adventure read as a bad rendition of many of Roger Moore’s time as Bond. Although, current and contemporary still had the bad taste 1970s Bond and Bond clones minus the ostentatious hideaways that the villains call their lair. While not as comical, as Austin Powers, it still have the formula of 1970s action film as opposed to a modern Noir Thriller that the rules seemed to lend themselves to.

As always, there will be no spoilers. The adventure is fairly logical in its layout and spelling errors are few and far between. There is an interesting fleshing out of NPCs with very logical motivations, even though the ends that they use veers towards the extravagant. The art while well done was not the same standard as the main rulebook. It did have an assortment of “thrilling locations” to borrow the phrase from the James Bond RPG but they were not so much thrilling as perhaps exotic would be a better descriptor. The adventure does a really good job at hitting all the cues for different aspects of the rules, and gives a great opportunity to role play while rolling results. But, the problem lies that they are not terribly exhilarating or sensational encounters. For the adventure does not emulate something very exciting focusing upon the investigation aspect of the modern genre.

All in all, this adventure is a good introduction to the game, but, lacks the possibility to rouse the players to want to play again. It would seem that it was written for a convention or as a One Shot, but, it does have useful suggestions for other adventures. I sincerely hope future offerings of Classified will be more dynamic and exhilarating. Looking to use some of the Top Secret adventures or any technothriller would yield more satisfaction than what was offer here. This can be done by providing an internal timetable in which players must “save the world” in real time – each ten minute segment representing, one day in real time for the investigative portion or one hour in the action sequences. Furthermore, pictorial representation as a flowchart help make adventures run smoother while keeping the adventure moving in the right direction. Many Gamemasters and players may want a more sandbox approach but investigation/mystery games need the tight structure and timetable to ensure things get done. Leave the sandbox for the elaboration of place.

There is an element of a letdown for this adventure. It has all the right elements but comes together in a dated and wrong formula. In my review, I cited how Quantium of Solace failed the fans, this gentle readers is Skyfall. Many things, some interesting things, but, certainly not the Bond that we signed up for. Similarly, Operation Lion, does meet the criteria of being a good premise, but, will take a considerable effort for the Gamemaster to craft it into a memorable and great experience.