Recon (role-playing game)
| The Roleplaying Game of the Viet Nam War | |
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Front cover of the first edition Recon rulebook
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| Designer(s) | Joe F. Martin |
| Publisher(s) | Role Playing Games, Inc. |
| Years active | 1981–1984 |
| Genre(s) | Miniature wargaming |
| Language(s) | English |
| Players | 4–10 |
| Random chance | Percentile dice (2d10) |
| Skill(s) required | Strategy, Tactics |
Front cover of The Revised RECON,
illustrated by Kevin Siembieda |
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| Designer(s) | Erick Wujcik, Kevin Siembieda, Matthew Balent, Maryann Siembieda |
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| Publisher(s) | Palladium Books |
| Publication date | June 1986 (1st edition) April 1999 (Revised edition) |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Genre(s) | Wargaming |
| Language(s) | English |
| Website | palladiumbooks |
Recon (appearing later as RECON) is a role-playing game wherein players assume the role of U.S. military characters during the Vietnam War. It originally started as more of a wargame with role-playing elements, like Behind Enemy Lines and Twilight 2000, and gradually evolved into a full role-playing game.
The first edition was written by Joe F. Martin and published by RPG, Inc. in 1982 as a 44-page book. A 44-page digest-sized second edition packaged with an MD's screen was published in 1983 by RPG, Inc. This edition introduced the idea of easily created and disposable characters. Like Dungeons and Dragons, the Mission Director (the referee or Game Master) used a Random Encounters table to generate terrain and villages, create groups of adversaries for the players to fight, obstacles to overcome, or problems to solve. Combat was resolved using miniatures rules.
Recon is a mildly controversial modern military system of jungle combat in the Vietnam war. The rules cover character creation, skills, recon teams, missions, recruiting and debriefing, hand-to-hand combat, small arms and heavy weapons, and terrain generation.
San Succi (1982) was a map pack. It detailed a 16-block area in 1/72 scale for use with 20mm or 25mm lead figures. It also contained a guide to the buildings on the map, a Non-Player Character (NPC) generating system, and a vehicular combat system (called ROADKILL).
A supplement – Sayaret / Track Commander (1982) – was set during the Arab-Israeli Wars from 1967 to 1983. Players could generate Israeli soldier characters that could operate as a commando detachment or a tank crew. It allowed the Mission Director to run Israeli commando raids or tank battles.
The Haiphong H.A.L.O.: SOG Operations in North Vietnam (1983), the first adventure campaign, involved missions behind enemy lines in North Vietnam. It expanded roleplay to include Army Special Forces, Navy SEAL, and Marine Force Recon commando characters and detailed real-world airborne, sea, and amphibious insertion techniques. Missions included reconnaissance, sabotage, assassination / ambush, prisoner snatching, and search and rescue.
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