The King in Giallo

The King in Giallo is the first published adventure for ESPionage the Role-Playing Game of Psychics and Spies croudfunding later this year. A contemporary setting with a Cold War feel. This QuickStart guide along with a copy of Fate Condensed is all you need to introduce your players to the world of The Strip, including the pregenerated agents of Rainbow Intelligence Services.

ESPionage is stale beer with martini moments. A secret world that's less about good guys versus evil, and more about getting the job done, whatever the cost.

Set in the world of The Faith Machine and in the same vein as the book, The Men Who Stare at Goats, the video game Control, and the TV show Legion ESPionage is built on the backs of Fate Condensed and The Fate Accessibility Toolkit.

Ola Oscar, It’s Raymundo,

You remember me, from that Ciudad Juárez incident? Friggin’ cartels and brujería? Yeah, I bet you know that didn’t work out so good for me. I had to leave Mexico, been bumping around Europe, you know? Spain, Portugal, Italy, doin’ a bit of this and a bit of that. Ex-spooks, we gotta take the work were we can get it. Can’t be too picky, or ask too many questions.

Been thinkin’ about what went down in Juárez. Tryin’ to get my head around it. Startin’ to think...you had a bigger hand in how that all played out, more than you let on, you know? Got me thinkin’ you owe me a favor, a big favor.

But favors can go both ways. If you help me, I got a tip that’ll help you.

I ended up in Costa Smeralda, that big island off the coast of Italy, north of Sicily. Found something crazy here, man. Something the American house will want to see. Something so valuable, that maybe the American house will let me inside, never mind that Casa Mexico kicked me out. Put a good word in for me, that’s all I’m askin’.

Meet me in Italy. Leave me a message with the manager at the coffee shop on the corner of Quattro Venti and Prima Conchiglia. I can’t tell you more, you’ll have to see it for yourself.

You’ll have to see it with your third eye.

Welcome to the world of ESPionage. Welcome to the Strip. A world kept secret from other spies, where psychic powers are subtle, specialized, and sometimes sloppy. There's another layer below the intelligence community, where humans with powerful minds wage secret wars no computer ever could. Psychic agents are cards, non-psychic commanders of a hand are proposition players, and teams of these agents are a hand.

The spy game ain't what it used to be. Not that it ever was. In The King in Giallio, the player characters are the psychics and spies of Rainbow Intelligence Services, private contractors that investigate (or suppress) esoteric instances on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security. A tip came in about the location of a rogue Mexican agent. The American House is eager to speak with him. Locate the agent and bring him in.