“But if you want to pretend you’re safe, just so you can sleep at night, OK, you’re safe. But you’re really not.”

At the conclusion of ‘Day of the Moon’ Nixon is aware of the existence of aliens and the Doctor tells him in no uncertain terms that there are plenty more threats out there. With Canton reinstated into the FBI it only stands to reason that the President would task him with defending the US from external forces.

This is the perfect set-up for an X-files style game against the backdrop of the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 1970s. Agents chosen for this division would not only have to combat alien menaces but ensure the public were kept unaware of the danger they faced.

In contrast to a UNIT-centric game this campaign model would have a strong streak of paranoia running through it. The Cold War is still going on, any country could be working with alien beings in effort to destabilise the US. The President himself would become increasingly suspicious and fearful, eventually leading to his resignation.

Agents can use this to their advantage, their department receiving increased funding in their efforts to discover covert invasions. ‘Day of the Moon’ gives a good indication of how Canton would run a large scale manhunt and imprison a dangerous alien, both in terms of the people involved and the resources they would use.

The bigger the operation the more likely they are to be detected so agents can expect to being working in small groups, roughly the same size as an average roleplaying group. While they have free reign in the field they can expect to have to explain their actions once they’ve returned to the office.

Their responsibility would be to locate and identify threats, the focus of the game being on investigation. Once they know what they’re dealing with they can call in the big guns and have confidence that any captured aliens will be kept secure and their technology confiscated.

Any such campaign should take advantage of just how big the US is and how varied its terrain can be. One adventure might be set in a remote, dusty small town in Utah and next amongst the ancient green forests of New England.

UFO sightings are the most obvious reason for the FBI to be called into investigate and cover-up but there are plenty of other reasons for agents to begin investigating. Disappearances in a remote location, new technology that could have alien origin and odd phenomenon such as missing time, psychic powers and rapid healing all require agents to find out if their source is alien in origin.

The FBI would struggle to understand what they were dealing with, without a resident Time Lord on staff. Information gathering would be important, leading FBI agents to look into prior alien encounters, treating it with more seriousness that the government at the time. Alien bodies would need to be dissected and their technology tested.

Although the Silence are dead they would still have left a lot of work for the FBI to do. Their subterranean tunnels would need to be mapped. Exploration might lead to the discovery of advanced technology or unusual structures.

What plans did they have for the 1970s? Their subliminal programming could have already set events in motion, human agents unknowingly carrying out their alien agenda. Agents would need to find out before human history is further altered.

The focus on any adventure will be searching for clues, talking to suspects and uncovering the truth. Their badge will open many doors and persuade many to co-operate but agents must be careful. If they raise too much suspicion people will begin to ask what they are doing there.

Once they’ve identified if there is an alien presence or not they’ll have to decide how to proceed. They could call in back-up but do they have time to wait? Even if they do how can they apprehend the alien menace without blowing their cover?

Conspiracies help to enhance the feeling of paranoia. If aliens are in the country they could be working with organisations who are benefiting from their presence and would take steps to protect them, even from the FBI.

There could even be other covert organisations within the government, already tasked with dealing with aliens. Nixon might simply not have been informed of their existence. FBI agents might find themselves intruding on other covert organisations investigations, putting them at odds.

Over the coming years they’d have to deal with UNIT and may run into members of Torchwood. Not to mention similar organisations from around the world. Could they end up encountering their Russian counter-parts and how would they react?

The FBI would be concerned with the US but would doubtlessly encounter situations in which the whole world was threatened and find they need to leave the country. Would they pass the information to other agencies or travel to foreign soil.

If the campaign goes on long enough you can explore what happens when Nixon resigns. Would Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter be informed of what the FBI was doing? Would the alien hunting division find themselves disbanded or their funding cut?

The agents might find themselves having to go rogue, continuing their crusade with private funding. Confiscated technology and alien prisoners would have to be secured to prevent their years of hard work being undone.

Even if you don’t want to centre a whole campaign around the FBI they make good allies for any visit to the US during that era. Canton would certainly make an excellent guest star, likely to identify the player characters as useful assets.

Whatever tact you take player characters are sure to find that the truth is out there.