OPERATION GRAY WIRE

Alpha Animal Operators // Free Quickstart // Pre-Alpha Playtest

PEOPLE. MISSIONS. ANIMALS. ALWAYS.

Operation Gray Wire is the free quickstart for Alpha Animal Operators (AAO), a squad-level tactical tabletop RPG played with D10 dice pools. Roll Attribute + Skill, count Successes, beat the Difficulty. Cover, line of sight, Suppression and a rising Operational Pressure track decide how the mission goes.

The mission

AAO Intelligence has found an abandoned regional communications facility being used by an Ashen Dawn support cell. Something important is about to leave the building. Your squad goes in, recovers the Gray Wire Archive and gets everyone out. How you get in is up to you.

Who it's for

• 3-6 players + 1 Handler. The Handler is the person who runs the game. ("Operations" is only the voice on the radio.)
• All six Operators always go in: Atlas, Anchor, Relay, Rivet, Drifter and Oracle. With fewer than 6 players, some players run two.
• About 30-45 minutes of play. The Handler should spend about 20 minutes reading first. Players don't need to read anything before play.
• You need D10s (about 15) and one D6.
• No Operator deaths in this quickstart. A downed teammate can be patched up or carried out. Leave someone behind, and the mission doesn't end clean.

What's in the download

• 01 Start Here: read this first.
• Player folder: Player Mission Brief + Quick Reference (with a one-page glossary), six Operator sheets and the Player Map.
• Handler-only folder: Handler Quick Reference, Handler Guide, 05 Named Adversaries and the Handler Map with cover ratings. Keep it hidden from players.
• Reference and forms: Core Rules Reference (quickstart edition; optional), After Action Review and a one-page Playtest Feedback Form.
• Print-ready PDFs. A separate download has the editable DOCX versions.

What we need from you

This is pre-alpha. The rules will change, and your table is how they get better.

1. Play the mission as written. If something isn't covered, the Handler makes one quick ruling and keeps going. Write those rulings down.
2. After the mission, fill in the After Action Review together.
3. Send us your feedback: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgxOUgfM_8qgtakxuBX5P3ggKtyNyxcIm2zwsrcfamzULElA/viewform

Tell us what confused you, your favorite moment, whether Pressure felt tense, what you houseruled, and whether you'd play again.

About the world

Alpha Animal Operators is a growing military-fiction universe built around animal special-operations teams. A Sasquatch command sergeant major, a German shepherd executive officer, a raccoon cyber specialist, a beaver combat engineer, a mallard machine gunner and a great horned owl forward observer make up the squad in this quickstart. Behind the front-line operators are specialized support elements: the Powder Monkeys, Lifeline, Skyhook and Ghost Eye.

AAO follows the operators behind the mission as closely as the mission itself: who they are, where they came from, and what happens when the operation is over. The universe spans original fiction, collectible operator cards and this tabletop RPG. There's also a prototype collector card of Atlas, laser-engraved in steel.

Content note: military fiction with firearms combat and explosive door breaching. An Operator left behind at extraction is captured by the enemy (a story consequence, read as an epilogue). Combat is resolved with dice, Damage numbers and Wounds; there is no gore or graphic injury description. Player characters cannot die in this quickstart. Enemies can be "neutralized", or they can withdraw or surrender. No sexual content or profanity.

Follow the operators:

• Instagram: @alpha.animal.operators
• Facebook: Alpha Animal Operators

PEOPLE. MISSIONS. ANIMALS. ALWAYS.