Warning Order #1 is a treasure trove of d66 tables. Roll 2d6, assign one the ones place and one the tens place, and experience random nirvana. The author was thoughtful to explain the d66 process, complete with a color picture of dice, which I really appreciate. I love d66 tables, but we all started the same way: asking, “how the heck do I roll d66?” :D
“How to use the tables” is sort of a one-page recipe book, illustrating how to string together random results to create missions, NPCs, and so on. For instance, a Mission is:
A (Cabal) is going to use a (MacGuffin) to (Mission) but (Twist). Your team must stop them!
This is all good stuff, and the tables are populated with both personality and good ideas. I especially liked this entry under Crooks and Cabals: “THE BIG BAD (GM’s favorite villains)”. It’s a little detail, but could help remind the reader that random tables are theirs to customize and make their own, not strict instructions to follow.
As someone who recently had to write a bunch of tables for a present day setting, I really appreciate all the work that went into the random names at the back. d66 names for Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. (The note that “nobody uses their real names anyway” is both a fun line and a solid point.)
One complaint: NPC Details! I want more! More!! There’s a 1-in-6 chance my NPCs will wear Hawaiian shirts, be obnoxious and loud. And as happy as I am to roleplay that character, I fear my players will start opening fire on anyone vaguely resembling Magnum P.I.
The list of Intelligence Agencies (some defunct) is fascinating and makes me want to hop over to Wikipedia to flesh them out.
The Code Names are, of course, solid !@#$ing gold. Forget “Game Master” or “Dungeon Master”. From now on my players will address me as Fancy Unicorn.
Let me just close by saying: I love Warning Order #1. Now where’s Warning Order #2?