The DSA is organized into seven Directorates, each with a specific area of responsibility and expertise. Each Directorate has its own training cycle, which a new Special Agent or other employee undergoes immediately upon graduation from the DSA Academy. However, personnel are encouraged to cross-train with other Directorates to supplement their initial training, and very few project teams or offices are composed solely of one Directorate's personnel.
Executive Directorate (Dir-0, "Central")
The Executive Directorate is the central bureaucracy and field investigative arm of the DSA. It has over 60% of the Agency's total staff, as the vast majority of clerical and administrative personnel are assigned to it. Its agents have no overriding agenda, instead being assigned as "utility infielders" to any operation that needs a generalist instead of a specialist. Agents from Central tend to be well-connected within the Agency's bureaucracy. D-0 is also home to the Agency's Internal Security Department, which investigates corruption of both mundane and supernatural varieties within the DSA.
Dir-0 is functionally identical to The Home Office Department from the basic Spycraft RPG.
Domestic Service Directorate (Dir-1, "The Dome")
The Domestic Service Directorate works closely with the various branches of the US armed forces and their respective paranormal programs, as well as with other domestic law enforcement and intelligence agencies on federal, state, and local levels. Formerly known as the Domestic Secutiry Directorate, its official primary function is facilitating the smooth transfer of information between the Agency and other domestic agencies whose jurisdictions may overlap those of the DSA. However, Dir-1 is also responsible for coordinating joint operations, which means its agents see action in the field on a regular basis. A high percentage of Dir-1 agents are drawn from police departments and from the military's commissioned ranks.
Dir-1 is functionally identical to the Military Operations Department from the basic Spycraft RPG.
Foreign Service Directorate (Dir-2, "Forge")
Officially, the Foreign Service Directorate is responsible for coordinating activities with other nations' governments and paranormal studies and enforcement agencies. Unofficially, it also engages in a great deal of espionage against nations that are less than fully receptive to the Agency's diplomatic overtures. Dir-2 has extensive connections in the global black and gray markets, allowing its agents to procure deniable equipment with ease.
Dir-2 is functionally identical to The Power Brokerage Department from the basic Spycraft RPG.
Technical Directorate (Dir-3, "Cyberpunks," "Frankensteins")
The Technical Directorate is composed of four Offices: the Biomedical Office, the Information Technology Office, the Physical Sciences Office, and the Technical Surveillance Office. The Biomedical Office handles in-house medical treatment for agents and analysis of xenobiological and cryptozoological cases. The Information Technology Office controls the Agency's secure communications networks and computer resources. The Physical Sciences Office delves into advanced physics and chemistry resources and provides the R&D side of the Agency's logistics. The Technical Surveillance Office is responsible for electronic surveillance, intelligence, and counter-intelligence, as well as cryptological analysis. Cyberpunks and Frankensteins tend to be younger than other DSA agents, and many are recruited straight out of college (or jail). The Technical Directorate's personnel are characterized by analytical skill and a thirst for discovery, as well as occasional poor judgment.
D-3 is replaces and replicates the Computer Espionage Department from the basic Spycraft RPG.
+2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom.
Bonus Feat: Any gear or basic skill feat. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.
Choose one Office at character creation: Information Technology, Technical Surveillance, Biomedical, or Physical Sciences. The agent receives bonuses as determined by his Office:
Biomedical Office:
Biomedical agents have access to advanced and experimental drugs. They are issued a free first aid kit that provides a +1 gear bonus to all skill checks made with it. The kit is upgraded automatically by an additional +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter. It also contains a number of drug patches (see Shadowforce Archer) equal to the value of its gear bonus. The agent chooses the drug patches his kit contains during the Gearing Up phase of every mission.
The Biomedical Office provides a +1 department bonus to First Aid, Knowledge (biology), and Profession (doctor) checks. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
Information Technology Office:
Information Technology agents receive a free laptop computer with a +1 power rating. The computer is upgraded in power automatically by +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
The Information Technology Office provides a +1 department bonus to Computers and Electronics checks. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
Physical Sciences Office:
Physical Sciences agents receive a bonus of +1 gadget point at the start of each mission, plus another gadget point per mission at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
The Physical Sciences Office provides a +1 department bonus to Mechanics, Knowledge (chemistry or physics, choose one), and Profession (engineer) checks. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
Technical Surveillance Office:
Technical Surveillance agents receive a free laptop computer with a +1 power rating. The computer is upgraded in power automatically by +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
The Technical Surveillance Office provides a +1 department bonus to Cryptography and Surveillance checks. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
Tactical Operations Directorate (Dir-4, "X-Com")
Dir-4 is the Agency's dedicated paramilitary aspect. Most Dir-4 personnel are recruited from the enlisted ranks of the military. While Dir-1 often works with the Department of Defense for information sharing and joint operations, Dir-4 is the Agency's private army for use in situations where regular armed forces deployment would have prohibitive legal or diplomatic repercussions (for example, if use of military personnel would violate the Posse Comitatus Act).
Other directorates have a tendency to see Dir-4 agents as thugs and cannon fodder, an impression which is not wholly without basis- Dir-4 has the highest rates of agent mortality and retirement on physical disability of any directorate. However, Dir-4 agents are also notoriously hard to kill, and tend to do a lot of damage before they go down.
Dir-4 is functionally identical to the Urban Assault Department from the basic Spycraft RPG. The Director of Tactical Operations also maintains the smaller Office for Special Operations (agents from this Office are identical to the Black Ops Department or Wetworks Department from the basic Spycraft RPG)
Survey Directorate (Dir-5, "Rangers")
Roughly 95% of the US population lives in 5% of the nation's square mileage. Dir-5 is responsible for patrolling the other 95% of the United States, from the Intracoastal Waterway to Death Valley, and reporting or personally handling any signs of paranormal hazards. This directorate also handles the Agency's in-house paranormal mapping programs, working closely with the USGS, DMA, and NRO. Dir-5’s closest ties to other agencies are with the EPA and the Department of the Interior, and state conservation and environmental agencies. Survey Directorate personnel are accustomed to long periods of independent operation, and tend to be rugged individualists.
Dir-5 is a new Department, different from any in the basic Spycraft RPG.
+2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity.
+1 department bonus to Fortitude saving throws. Survey agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to Fortitude saves at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
+1 to department bonus to Knowledge (Nature) and Survival checks. Survey agents receive an additional +1 department bonus to Knowledge (Nature) and Survival checks at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
Climb, Jump, Knowledge (Nature), Survival, and Swim are always in-class skills for Survey agents.
Bonus Feat: Any basic combat or chase feat, or Track. You must still meet all prerequisites for the feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.
Unconventional Research Directorate (Dir-6, "The Basement")
The DSA's core reason for existence is most strongly seen in Basement offices. Dir-7's research involves magic, psychic phenomena, and less quantifiable individual manifestations of the paranormal. 60-hour weeks are considered the norm in the Basement, and the stress, pace, and hazards of working in Dir-7 take their toll on its personnel. However, Dir-7 agents are more psychologically resilient than other Agency personnel due to their constant exposure to things that would drive lesser men mad. They also tend to be preternaturally lucky, even more so than the average Agency operative.
Dir-6 is functionally identical to "The Basement" from the basic Spycraft RPG, although in this setting they get (at least some) respect from their fellow agents, as the Agency as a whole believes in the paranormal.
|