Top Secret was a role playing game first published by TSR in 1980 in which players took on the personas of secret agents a la James Bond, The Saint, George Smiley, Jason Bourne (of the novels), and other famous spies and secret agents of popular fiction and films. In fact, since it would probably be groups of people working together, television shows such as The Avengers and The New Avengers television programs from the UK, I Spy, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., or, most especially, Mission: Impossible (the television series) might be better inspirations. Since the game lists at least 100 real world intelligence organizations, plus any that the game master (called the "Administer") might dream up or take from fiction, there are no shortage of organizations for which the characters might work.
It was a popular game with me and my friends. It is because of this game, and its cover, that I actually associate the Beretta 84 more with spies than the PPK! And it was one of the games that did the most to spark my life long interest in firearms.
There have been a couple of subsequent editions of the game. In 1987, TSR released a revised version called Top Secret/SI, but the rules were completely revamped from the first edition, and the characters worked for a specific fictional spy agency (ORION) against its evil adversary, WEB. I also understand that in 2017, the original author of Top Secret released an updated version of the game entitled Top Secret: New World Order, with the characters working for yet another transnational intelligence agency. I've never played these versions and don't know much more about them than what I read on Wikipedia.
The Game Books
Top Secret was published and sold as part of a boxed set that included the rule book (on the right in the photograph, above) and an introductory adventure entitled "Operation Sprechenhaltestelle".
The rules were in a soft cover book running 64 pages including an example character sheet at the back of the book. The introductory adventure ran 27 pages, not including a 4 page removable "mission briefing" in the center fold of the booklet.
I believe that the game also shipped with two 10-sided dice needed to play the game.
The Setting
The setting is modern day ... at least, the modern day when the game was released. There was still the Cold War, no cell phones or World Wide Web, and computers were only just making their way into small businesses and people's homes. However, it would be easy enough to update the game by adding additional gadgets and more modern weapons, and including a "hacking" area of knowledge.
As noted earlier, the characters are not from any particular intelligence agency, nor do they belong to a fictional agency like UNCLE. In fact, they could be brought together from different agencies to form a special team, which might give it a more international flavor.
Likewise, the characters are not facing off against any particular foreign intelligence agency or crime organization (such as SMERSH as in the James Bond novels or SPECTRE in the Bond movies). The characters could be snatching defectors out from under the noses of SMERSH or the STASI in one session, and fighting the IRA or PLO in the next. Or the game master could create a campaign where the characters work for a fictional secret agency facing off against fictional super-criminal organizations like KAOS, THRUSH or SPECTRE.
The Rules
Character creation begins with determining the value of six (6) basic traits--Physical Strength, Charm, Willpower, Courage, Knowledge, and Coordination. These traits are determined by rolling a d100 (the two ten sided dice, reading one as the tens digits and the other as the single digits) and adding a bonus provided by consulting a table. This is intended to boost characters with low scores.
The basic traits are then used to determine other traits such Offense, Deception, Evasion, Deactivation, Life Level, Movement Value, Hand-to-Hand Combat Value, and Surprise Value. The player next determines his character's height, age, and other personal statistics; the number of languages the character speaks; and specific areas of knowledge the character possesses in various scientific, technical, or scholarly fields.
Finally, the player decides the "bureau" his character works for: Investigation, Confiscation, or Assassination (and almost everyone picks the latter); and then is provided a specific sum of money ($400--it was the early 1980s) to purchase starting equipment. Characters are paid for each mission, which gives them the money to purchase additional equipment or upgrade equipment they already have. Of course, that doesn't stop the characters from getting cash by other means during the game. I'm sure that James Bond didn't turn his gambling winnings over to MI-6.
Like other early offerings from TSR, there is no unified game mechanic as typical for most games today. Sometimes the game requires rolling dice hoping for a result below a certain number, and sometimes the results are determined by consulting a table.
For instance, if the character is making contact with someone where a reaction must be determined, the player determines what type of contact will be made (e.g., using force, attempting to fool the person, dazzle them, bribe them, etc.) and consult a table which tells which trait must be compared against a value for the target and cross-references those two numbers on a Contact Reaction Table. But even that reaction result might require further rolls of the dice. For instance, if the player decides his Player Character (PC) will attempt to Fascinate a contact, he would compare his Charm trait against the Non-Player Character's (NPC's) trait. Assuming that the PC has a 75 Charm and the NPC's trait is 50, we would cross index those numbers on the Contact Reaction Table, which would give a result of "E". Looking at the key for the table, it states for "E": "Contact will listen to the agent, then (Admin's die roll) will walk away (01-33); will as the agent to leave (34-66); or will has the agent to shut up (67-00)."
There are tables to roll for random locations, what weapons guards or enemies might carry, for how police will respond and how they will be armed, and even police might secure a prisoner.
Combat is divided between "projectile combat" (pretty much using of firearms but also a few more primitive weapons) and hand-to-hand combat. The projectile combat can be quite complicated because it has rules (and modifiers) as to who gets the first shot, a detailed weapons chart (essentially setting out the characteristics of a plethora of firearms), rules on movement during combat, determining whether you hit, and damage to the PC or NPC from a hit. There are also rules covering the damage to a weapon if it happens to be struck by a bullet. Combat is mostly worked out, however, by determining your "to hit" number modified by various factors, and then rolling less than that number on a 1d100.
Hand-to-hand combat works differently. Generally, the characters will determine what fighting style they are using (untrained, knife fighting, boxing, swordplay, judo, martial arts) followed by the attacker selecting a type of attack and the defender a type of defense, and consulting the appropriate table to determine the result. For instance, using the boxing table, the attacker might select a "Hook: Head" and the defender might select a "slip" to the same side. The result is a "Y" which indicates "Severe Damage" ranging from 5 to 10 points.
There are additional rules on disabling locks and alarms (including using lockpicks), explosives and grenades, underwater combat, using explosives or bullets against a vehicle, gambling, fencing purloined goods, disguises, the effects of alcohol, incapacitating gases and smoke, and much more. Even an execution table for how the evil villain will do away with a PC in an especially fiendish way. And, of course, examples of secret devices worthy of James Bond's Q branch.
Strangely, however, there are no rules for car chases. Fortunately, the Dragon Magazine published rules for car chases ("Pop the Clutch!") in its October 1983 edition, and I believe you can still find these rules online. And fans of the games have published additional lists of weapons and equipment.
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