(I was going to call this a Wushu hack, but it's more like a bludgeoning)

I've been watching I Spy recently (http://www.hulu.com/i-spy), and it occured to me that what makes their actions (as well as most detective television programs) badass isn't how good they are - they are clearly competent, but that's not the point (unlike most spy shows and RPGs).  It's about doing what need to be done, taking risks, and having the chutzpah to see the case/job through.  And some snappy dialog, but I don't think I'll be able to come up with mechanics for that.

This lead me to start tinkering with Wushu for the last couple of weeks (with hints of Danger Patrol and Fate trown in).  Usually when I start system tinkering, especially with something so simple and elegant as Wushu or Risus, it becomes an unplayable beaten pulp.  But this time, I might be onto something groovy.

The quick overview: Roll a die (six siders) for taking any kind of action.  For each risk added to the situation, add another die (perhaps the GM and other players can recommend additional risks, as well).  Rolling under your rating is good, rolling high and under your rating is better.  In most situations, dice that roll over the rating raise the stakes.

Risk & Caution: after determinging the number of dice to be rolled (based on the number of risks), the player decides if any of the dice should be set aside as caution dice.  The remaining are your risk dice.  The highest die rolling under (or equal to) the abilty rating is your effort, to be compared against the GM's target for success/failure.  The target may be achieved over a few cumulative rolls.

Roll the caution dice separately(make 'em a different color or soemthing, even), and make a note of the highest die: that is your caution roll.  The number of failed risk dice (those that roll over your target number - only from risk dice, not caution dice) minus your caution roll is blowback.  Blowback may casue you direct harm or raise the stakes.

The stakes: I'm trying to avoid using charts, but this is the one I'm having trouble getting away from.  The stakes are quantified 0 through 5 (scaling to none, trivial, minor, major, severe, and total).  When blowback rolls above the current stakes, the stakes go up by one stage.  The stakes are reduced by stepping aside ffrom the mission and taking some downtime.  This could proably be tracked by a paperclip along the edge of the character sheet.

When the stakes are higher, the potential harm to the characters is greater, but the bonus modifiers are scaled with it as well.

roll fudging: Stones are the stuff you need to get the job done, you'll probably start with one.  Each time the stakes go up, gain a stone.  Spend a stone to get a bonus to your roll - the higher the stakes, the greater the bonus.

Threats and violence: When dealing with a threat (wther it's a fire or thug - anything that can cause direct harm), the blowback causes consequences, rather than increasing stakes.  If the blowback is less than the current stakes, fill in the lowest available damage box.  If it is higher than the stakes, fill in a damage box at the current stakes level (possibly rolling up to the next available box).

I haven't figured out how much the damage modifiers stack, and how many boxes are available at each level.  The modidifers I've got in mind: Total - removed from action, probably unconcious.  Severe - removes the highest successful die from any roll.  Major - subtract one from any ability rating you are rolling against.  Minor - reduces the maximum number of risk dice.  Trivial - purely descriptive effects.

Traits:  This poart is easy enough to fool around wtih, but going with the whole spy thing, the basic traits would probably be you gerenal role, a specialty, a fighting style, a method of dealing with other folks, and a cover story.  These'll be rated 2 through 5.

There will probably also be Fate-aspect style traits to cover motivations and beliefs, and some kind of assets (gear, talents, connections, and other resources).

Assets:  Once per scene, an asset may add a risk die to a roll (ignoring the cap).  Single use assets may be created through an ability roll, to represent preparation and teamwork.

Questions & concerns:
First off, does any of this make any kind of sense to someone who's not in my head?

I'm not married to any of it, really.  I mostly like the idea of rolling more dice when doing cooler stuff, it's tactile and fun.  The rest of it is an extension of that.

Even if I don't have everything concrete, I think I'm on a pretty good path.  But I have a feeling that there may be something inherently broken somewhere.

The obvious concern to me is that all threats are handled the same.  Fighting a guy is the same as putting out a fire.  The way to make a guy tougher is to increase his target number (roll modifiers are also possible, such as adding to the blowback, or not having the effort cause an effect unless a certain number is met).  This simplifies things for the GM, but doens't allow for much variation, which I'd like to see for more important NPCs.

Being that threats are basically pacing mechanisms, giving an actual sense of menace seems unavailable.  Considering the type of fiction that has inspired this, that is inherently wrong.  In my experience, when PCs are outgunned, outmuscled and outnumbered, they'll redouble their effort, and dig in for the fight.  But how many times has James Garner slowly put his hands over his head and said, "Listen, can't we talk abou this?" when a gun is pulled on him?  I'm pondering putting in a mechanical effect for backing off from a threat, possible bribery with a stone, or adjusting the stakes. I don't necessarily want to encourage surrendering - the PCs should still be heroes. But once in a while there should be some benefit for being sensible, and not going into a gunfight armed with brass knuckles.

Of course, this is a thumbnail of some of the things I've cobbled together over the last couple of weeks, so if something is missing (or just doens't make sens), I may have it already being figured out.  More likely, though, is that I've overlooked something obvious.

Hopefully, this conveys things a bit more clearly.  I can give some examples as well if anything needs it.

Keep in mind that although I mean for this to reflect the style of Magnum PI or The Rockford Files, what sent me down this road was I Spy, so a small portion (mostly in character creation) of this is with the notion of playing a spy.  It should be easy enough to alter for a rough-and-tumble detective though, as the focus is still being a badass by taking risks and doing what needs to be done.

Making your player agent:

How do you generally get along with and influence people? Some ideas include charm, empathy, fast talk, intimidate, winning smile, and command.  Determine this and write it down next to "social" on your agent's dossier.

Occasionally, softer methods may fail, and an agent in the field will get into physical confrontation.  When the happens, how do you tend to deal with the situation?  You might be practiced in judo, handguns, improvised weapons, fencing, or street fighting.  Write this down next to "fighting style."

In general, how do you do things, and what is the purpose you serve to the agency?  Some possibilities are weasel, face, fixer, soldier, bodyguard, burglar, scientist, detective, saboteur, provocateur, medic, smuggler, courier or snoop; a modern setting could have hacker, as well.  Make a note of this next to "role."

You probably have some kind of special training or experience of particular value to the agency, and it may even be why you were recruited.  It is likely to be a focused area of specialized knowledge and experience.  A sampling of these include linguistics, protocol, sniper, cryptography, driving, gambling, psychology, economics, pilot, electronics, disguise, and surveillance.  Determine what yours is, and write it down next to "specialty."

Your cover identity is what allows you to travel around and get into places without drawing undue attention.  It may be something you did before joining the agency, or you may have been trained for it.  It is something actually are capable of doing - there is no need to make ability checks to see if someone disbelieves your story (doing something that reveals your connections to an intelligence organization is a different situation altogether). Among the possibilities are tennis pro, sports trainer, concert violinist, fashion designer, reporter, gambler, and ambassador.  Select yours, and make a noted of it next to "cover."

Give each of the above (social, fighting, role, specialty, and cover) a rating of 3.  Add a total of three more points among these abilities, increasing none above 5.  Any attempts at actions not covered by one of the above abilities have am assumed rating of 2.

What drives you to do what you do, and (importantly) why?  It might be what brought you to the agency in the first place, or it something that's grown on you since then.  Protecting the losers and the weak because they remind you of the ghetto you grew up in, make enough money to retire because you've had enough of this stuff, and thrillseeking because the death of a loved one left you jaded and disconnected are but a few of the possibilities.  Explain this on your dossier next to "motivation."

What do you believe?  It could be a religious devotion, or it could be that the truths of the universe can be found in music, or the the USA is the greatest country in the world.  Make a note of this next to "belief."

The agency tends to filter out major flaws and limitations in potential recruits.  However, agents are not perfect.  You should determine what about your agent is might sometimes get in the way, but in other situations would be helpful.  Some ideas include being large (good for intimidating, bad for fitting into small spaces), being focused (good for not having your attention drawn from a delicate task, bad for being aware of your surroundings), or having a distinctive style (good if you want to be recognized, bad if you don't).  There doesn't have to be any sort of "balance" in frequency or severity of benefit versus disadvantage.  This is your "catch."

Any tool, talent, or other resource is an asset.  You should probably have four of these.  They will give you advantages in some situations.  Example of assets include your gun, a friend who is a money launderer, a knack for blending in to a crowd, or a set of fine lockpicks.

Doing stuff

Doing stuff is easy.  Doing cool stuff involves risks (and rolling more dice).

Whenever your agent attempts to take a significant action, the GM may have you roll some standard six-sided dice to determine the outcome.  Actions are taken against threat or challenges.  Threats are likely to cause direct harm, challenges are pretty much anything else you are trying to accomplish.

When you decide to take an action against a challenge, you'll roll some dice based on your description of the situation.  The more risks you take, the more dice you get to roll.  The more dice you roll, the greater the chances of succeeding, as well as raising the stakes.

For simply doing something, start with one risk die (I'd make these red).  For each risk added to the situation, add a risk die to what you are about to roll.  You may add up to three risk dice in this way.  If you want to roll more dice, you may ask for another risk from the table (your fellow players), and one from the GM.  Simply having a guy shooting at you while performing the action is a risk; it is also likely to now be a threat if it wasn't before.

Trying not to draw attention to myself while asking around at the Geisha house, there is a guy watching me over the top of his manga who disappears before I get a chance to talk to him. (add one die)

I start working the lock, not noticing the cord running between the top of the door and the jamb, while there is a flashlight sweeping the darkened hallway. (add one for not noticing the cord, and one for the person with the flashlight) (yes, the player can add risks the character is unaware of, as well as adding elements to the scene for the GM to mess with)

Determine the ability that best applies to the situation at hand, and roll the dice.  Any die that rolls less than or equal to the ability rating (or 2 if nothing does) is considered a successful die.  The highest successful die is your effort.  The effort is compared to the challenge's target number to determine success.  In general, by exceeding the target you have accomplished what you set out to do.  In some cases, the GM may allow multiple attempts at the action, each time reducing the target by the effort (keep in mind that doing this will require a new batch of risks for each attempt). 

One thing to be aware of is blowback.  Blowback is the result of overextending yourself, and can cause complications - but maybe not immediately.  Each risk die that is not successful causes one level of blowback.  If the blowback from a roll is higher (not equal to) than your current Stakes, the Stakes go up by one.  This can be good and bad.

To avoid blowback, you may want to be a bit more cautious with what you are doing.  Before making the roll, you may trade out any number of the risk dice for an equal number of caution dice (I'd make these white).  Caution dice do not create blowback, nor do they count toward effort.  You may, however, absorb an amount of blowback up to the highest successful roll on a caution die.

Assets

You may use the asset in your descriptions (as long as it is reasonably available to you), but once per scene you may activate an asset to give you a die bonus.  Simply, declaring that you are activating an asset gives you an extra risk die - this goes beyond the normal dice limit.

Planning, preparation and teamwork are handled as fragile assets. Fragile assets can be created by taking an appropriate action (chatting up someone in a bar, casing the mansion for security, yelling "look out!") and making the ability roll (account for risks, caution and stakes when you do). A successful roll establishes a fragile asset. Normal assets can be used once per scene, a fragile asset can only be used once.

The Stakes

As the stakes increase, so do the potential rewards and losses.

Along the edge of the dossier is a track for noting the current stakes level.  This can be done easily by sliding a paperclip up and down as events warrants.  Each level number is the modifier to be used for and against the agent in various situations.  The potential for harm by threats also scales with the stakes.

Starting from baseline, level 0 means the stakes are nonexistent.  This is where you are before the mission begins.  Level 1 is trivial, 2 is minor, 3 major, 4 severe, and 5 is total.

Downtime

If things are getting a bit hot for you, you may take some downtime to relax, depressurize and do something non-mission related for a bit: play chess in the hotel lobby, go carousing, fly a kite in the park.  This allows you to unmark one of you consequences.  You may also choose to reduce the stakes by one, if you wish.

Stones

Sometimes, it takes stones to get the job done.  You'll start the mission with one stone (use some kind of token or pebble to keep track).  Any time the stakes increase, the GM should give you a stone.

You may spend a stone to add a bonus to your effort or caution roll (this includes if you rolled no successful dice).  The bonus is equal to the current stakes.  If you are spending a stone on an action in agreement with your belief or motivation or that your catch would be a benefit to, add one to the bonus.

Stones may be given to you for being hindered by your catch or behaving in line with your belief or motivation even if it would have more inconvenient to do otherwise.

Threats and consequences

Threats are challenges that can cause you direct harm.  This can be putting out a fire or fighting your way past a couple of goons.  In the case of a threat, blowback causes consequences (AKA injury) rather than increasing the stakes.

If the blowback from handling a threat is equal to or higher than the current stakes, take a full consequence.  If the blowback is less than the stakes, take a reduced consequence.  If the blowback is zero, there is no consequence this time.

A full consequence is one at the current stakes level.  A reduced consequence is at the lowest available level.  In either case, if there are no open consequence boxes at the appropriate level, go up the chart until you find one, and mark it off.

Here are the consequences for the various levels.  Having one box checked off at the level is enough to get the penalty; more boxes at the same level do not add any more penalties.
5 Total  [] your are taken out of action and probably unconscious
4 Severe  [][] remove the highest successful die of any roll
3 Major  [][][] subtract one from the ability rating you are rolling against
2 Minor  [][][][] reduce your dice cap by one
1 Trivial [][][][][] no mechanical effects, just descriptive
0 Nothing
I might end up completely restructuring this ladder.

Backing down - I'm still not sure what to do with this.  I want a way that makes it clear that sometimes it makes sense to not go into a gunfight with only your fists - but I don't think there needs to be a new/separate mechanic to handle this.

significant NPCs - Dealing with the standard mooks as a threat reduces GM die rolling, and allows the player characters to show off.  But it's a lame way to deal with significant "named" characters.

Perhaps have the use of caution dice somehow tied to the PC backing out of an overwhelming situation?  "Unlocking" the ability to use caution dice or some such thing... but this would mean that using caution dice is not directly related to the task at hand (but it would be related to the character's overall behavior).

It's pretty much shoehorning in to things, and it feels that way to me.  Bah.

To broaden the usability from espionage to television and novel style detective adventuring, I'd change Cover to Facade or Veneer or something.  This allows for it to be interpreted as an active cover or, more noirishly, the way the character thinks other people sees him.

I'd like to have something connecting the PCs more strongly.  A relationship trait for each other PC, perhaps?  Mechanically treat it similarly to belief, motivation and catch (that is, a +/-1 modifier when spending a stone).