This is the first edition box set for TSR’s 1980 espionage RPG, Top Secret, by Merle Rasmussen. My copy apparently sat in the sun for a summer or two – the colors are usually more vibrant. I kind of dig the fade, honestly, but I am a weirdo.

I don’t have a strong recollection of play because it has been like 25 years, but Top Secret is a percentile based game that seems to take some cues from Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying (the way many statistics are derived from a relationship between two other stats, for example: the value of Offense is the average of your Coordination  and Courage). There are levels, though they have less to do with a character’s prowess than they do how much they get paid and how many Fame points they get. Fame, along with Fortune, can be spent, like Luck points in more modern games, to alter outcomes. “Class,” as it where, is determined by the department you are attached to (assassinations, investigation or confiscation).

It is a surprisingly straight-faced game at this point, taking itself fairly (though not entirely) seriously within genre conventions. I love the photo cover and the fact that the included adventure is presented like an actual top secret file. It is also fun to see old school D&D artists take on non-D&D subject matter (more on that later in the week). For my money, the best part is the appendix, which is a glossary of espionage terminology. It isn’t as colorful as John LeCarre’s Smiley books, but I am still here for it as the kids say.

Fun fact: playtesting for the game incurred a visit to the TSR offices by the FBI because of an in-game assassination plot. Something similar would happen to Steve Jackson Games years later because of their GURPS Cyberpunk sourcebook. Feebs, man **rolls eyes**.