Crafty Games is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 publisher of role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

s based on espionage

Espionage

Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...

 and fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 themes, particularly Spycraft

Spycraft

Spycraft is a d20 and OGL-based role-playing game dealing with superspies and modern action. Originally published by the Alderac Entertainment Group, it is currently published under licence by Crafty Games.-History:...

. The company was founded by the creative team behind the Spycraft and Spycraft 2.0 RPG

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

s, shortly after both lines were shut down by then-publisher Alderac Entertainment Group

Alderac Entertainment Group

Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California...

. Since its inception, Crafty Games has published over 50 products in print and PDF format, both through Mongoose Publishing

Mongoose Publishing

Mongoose Publishing is a prolific British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, actively publishing material since 2001...

's Flaming Cobra imprint and e-book vendor OneBookShelf. Crafty Games' work on Spycraft 2.0 has won nominations for the Diana Jones Award

Diana Jones Award

The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded to a person, product, publication, company, organization, event or trend – anything related to gaming; second, it does...

 and 4 ENnie Awards in 2006.

Founders

The founders of Crafty Games were affiliated with Alderac Entertainment Group in various capacities. When the Spycraft line was cut in the summer of 2005, they jointly formed Crafty Games.

Patrick Kapera

A ten-year veteran of the hobby gaming industry, Patrick Kapera was the co-creator of the award-winning Spycraft

Spycraft

Spycraft is a d20 and OGL-based role-playing game dealing with superspies and modern action. Originally published by the Alderac Entertainment Group, it is currently published under licence by Crafty Games.-History:...

 roleplaying game and its many offshoots, including the Stargate SG-1 RPG while working as a staff writer, editor, developer, and brand manager for AEG

Alderac Entertainment Group

Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California...

. Additionally he has worked on many acclaimed games, including Legend of the Five Rings

Legend of the Five Rings

Legend of the Five Rings is a fictional setting created by the John Wick and published by Alderac Entertainment Group in 1995. The setting primarily involves the fictional country of Rokugan, though some additional areas and cultures have been discussed. Rokugan is based roughly on feudal Japan...

, 7th Sea, Doomtown

Doomtown

Doomtown is a collectible card game, a companion to the Deadlands roleplaying setting.The game sets itself apart from other CCGs by having each card also serve as a playing card and resolving certain in-game situations with a hand of poker, thus accentuating the Old West atmosphere of the game...

, When Darkness Comes

When Darkness Comes

When Darkness Comes is Robert Swindells's first book. It was written in 1973. It was a book for teenagers....

, and the Battlestar Galactica RPG.

Alex Flagg

Once an organizer for the Oregon-based gaming convention Dairyland, Alex was recruited as an AEG freelancer to work on Spycraft 1.0 in 2002 based on the strength of his homebrewed setting Ten Thousand Bullets. Over the subsequent 5 years, he worked on nearly 2 dozen books for a number of publishers, including AEG

Alderac Entertainment Group

Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California...

, Privateer Press

Privateer Press

Privateer Press is an award-winning role-playing game and miniature wargame production and publishing studio founded in 2000 by Brian Snōddy, Matt Staroscik and Matt Wilson. Mike McVey joined the partnership early on as Miniatures Director...

, Fantasy Flight Games

Fantasy Flight Games

Fantasy Flight Games is a Roseville, Minnesota-based game company that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games. Fantasy Flight Publishing was founded in 1995 by its CEO, Christian T. Petersen. Since the release of its first game product in 1997, the company has been doing...

, Paradigm Concepts

Paradigm Concepts

Paradigm Concepts, Inc. is a small-press game publishing company located in Miami, Florida.They published the award-winning Arcanis campaign setting and managed the Living Arcanis campaign independent of the RPGA....

, and Mythic Dreams Studios, and was a core designer of the critically acclaimed Spycraft 2.0 RPG.

Games and products

Beyond Spycraft, Crafty Games has recently begun to branch into other games, including Mastercraft, a new system developed as part of their Fantasy Craft RPG. On 7 September 2008, the company also announced its first licensed property, based on Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series of novels.

This game system is notable for its modular, mix-and-match approach to equipment and gear, which allows it to function across genres from classic fantasy to science fiction. Instead of offering a specific set of choices, players can choose from a large set of "effects" and then its "housing," before paying the associated cost. For example, an ice effect combined with a sword produces a magical blade, while combining an EMP effect with a wristwatch comes straight out of James Bond's Q Branch.

In addition, creating NPC adversaries is as simple as assigning a "caliber" to their attack, defense, and so on. The actual numerical value scales to the level of the party, so you can run the same mission for new or experienced players without batting an eye. One build fits all.

Spycraft 1.0 products

• Spycraft Espionage Handbook
• Faceman/Snoop Class Guide
• Fixer/Pointman Class Guide
• Soldier/Wheelman Class Guide
• Modern Arms Guide
• 1960s Decade Book
• Agency
• Battlegrounds
• Mastermind
• World Militaries
• Gentleman's Agreement (mission module)
• Shadowforce Archer Worldbook
• African Alliance
• Archer Foundation Chamber Book
• European Commonwealth Chamber Book
• Hand of Glory Threat Book
• Pan-Asian Collective Chamber Book
• The Shop Threat Book

Spycraft 2.0 products

• Agent X: Firebrand
• Agent X: One-Man Army
• Agent X: The Runner
• Back to Basics: Modern SRD Classes for Spycraft 2.0
• Bag Full of Guns: Dragon's Fury
• Bag Full of Guns: Red Heat
• Bag Full of Guns: This is My Gun
• Bag Full of Guns: This is My Rifle
• Conspiracies
• Fragile Minds
• Origin of the Species: Classic Fantasy
• Origin of the Species: Light of Olympus
• Origin of the Species: Transmechs
• Practice Makes Perfect
• Spellbound: The Channeler (revised)
• Spellbound: The Seer
• Spycraft 2.0 Core Book, Second Printing (Errata v3)
• The Big Score
• World On Fire

Associates and freelance talent

A number of freelance writers and artists have worked with the Crafty partners in their assorted game lines.

Loren Dean

Loren's work has appeared in multiple books for Alderac Entertainment's 7th Sea game, and he wrote a regular review column for AEG's SHADIS magazine. Under the Crafty banner he has written for Signs & Portents magazine, and is a principal contributor on the Vow of Silence project.

Third party support

Fan and Organized Play clubs have begun several sites in support of Crafty Games' product lines. Additionally, other companies have produced material under the Powered by Spycraft/Powered by Mastercraft License.

Several introductory and convention-ready (4 hour) modules are available for download on the Crafty Games website.

Wyrmstone

An Organized Play offering going live shortly after the release of Fantasy Craft, featuring flying ships and adventure opportunities spanning multiple worlds.

Media mentions

Products published by Crafty Games have been mentioned in the following media sources:

RPG Countdown

• Agent X: Firebrand: highest rank 3; also ranked 10.
• Origin of the Species: Transmechs: highest rank 2; also ranked 3.