BRP World War One Scenario

[svensson]

So I've been asked to help a DnD player do a 'modern' game [she's dissatisfied with D20 Modern, no surprise], and I counter-offered a BRP game. She seemed interested enough that I'm beginning to sketch together a scenario /adventure /mini-campaign.

Here are some of my thoughts.

1. Setting:

I thought I'd run a World War One scenario in the Chemin des Dames zone of the Western Front. This is an 'interesting' area because it is roughly where the British, Canadians, and French intersect, thereby providing a variety of backgrounds. The time is Autumn 1917, when Allied fortunes are at a low ebb. America has entered the war, but all they've done is promise a great deal as yet. The few troops that are in France are still training. British and Canadian forces are still reeling from the Somme and the follow-on bloodletting of Vimy Ridge and Cambrai. The French forces are near mutiny.

I'll set the area in the fictional 'Valle'e du faucon and a ruined medieval monastery [cuz, duh...]

2. Characters:

I figured that I'd assemble a group of 4 or 6 characters, evenly divided between military and civilians. I'd do the basic generation and professional skills and then leave a generous number of skill points for the players to customize to their tastes.

All the military characters will have a 'Basic Training' based on the general practices of the armies of the day [so there won't be any one running around with submachine guns...] and then I'll have NCO packages and officer packages for those who want those roles. I'm open to the idea that one of the military players is German, having just been captured. One key point, just because I'm a historian and we can be jerks sometimes, is that the ammunition between British, French, and Germans are not interchangeable. Whatever ammo the character has at scenario start is all they'll get unless they scavenge more of the right caliber somehow.

The civilians will, of course, have a more wide ranging set of skills, but with enough base minimum ability to survive. Being an Expert [75%+] farmer is all well and good, but it won't help you in the denuded Autumn countryside near the front lines that have been scavenged and picked over in three years of static fighting. Therefore, the refugee farmer will need some Scounge, Survival, etc. type skills, just as one example. The basic idea is to have a Religious [nun, local pastor, chaplain], a refugee, and perhaps an aid worker /Red Cross /volunteer medical worker.

To show the players that the BRP system is open to all kinds of interpretation, I'll allow Psychic and Basic Magic Powers in the game, but at an 'Unusual Background' penalty of about 25% of their customization points. The idea behind this is twofold: a] I don't want Powers to overshadow clever play or skill and b] with any unusual background the practitioner ends up being not so good at more common things because they've studied their unique ability so intently.

3. Scenario /Theme:

I'm looking to allow the players to find themselves sheltering in the monastery as they are caught out in the open in a really ugly storm. The soldiers will be lost, having been separated from patrols or what-not. The civilians will be likewise be taking shelter from the storm, having been separated from a convoy. From there The Fun ensues, although I haven't precisely decided what that Fun will be just yet.

 

So, what do you guys think? Too much? Not enough? On-the-right-track-but-need-work?

All constructive input gratefully received.

Edited April 9, 2019 by svensson

[g33k]

I'd circle back with the player before proceeding -- is WWI *modern" enough?

""Modern" has specific meanings for the serious history crowd, but some ignorant fools believe that something over a century ago isn't really ... y'know... modern.  😁

Have you considered running straight-up Call of Cthulhu, since it defaults to 1920ish?  The 7e has a nifty starter box at a nice price, and IIRC a free Quickstart doc.  You could skip the actual Mythos content (making your players all nervous and jumpy about when the SAN-devouring gribblies will jump out of the dark at them -- which could be a nifty way to sneakily emulate the actual horros of war).

Magic/etc...

If you make The Fun have an occult aspect, make sure you don't turn the one/few PC with a Gift into a "Chosen One" aka Star of the Show aka McGuffin.

One idea:  you may wish to consider giving everybody some minor magic/psychic thing, as a "secret" that each of them keeps quiet about, because "everyone knows" that's just superstitious nonsense.

[svensson]

1 minute ago, g33k said:

I'd circle back with the player before proceeding -- is WWI *modern" enough?

""Modern" has specific meanings for the serious history crowd, but some ignorant fools believe that something over a century ago isn't really ... y'know... modern.  😁

Have you considered running straight-up Call of Cthulhu, since it defaults to 1920ish?  The 7e has a nifty starter box at a nice price, and IIRC a free Quickstart doc.  You could skip the actual Mythos content (making your players all nervous and jumpy about when the SAN-devouring gribblies will jump out of the dark at them -- which could be a nifty way to sneakily emulate the actual horros of war).

Magic/etc...

If you make The Fun have an occult aspect, make sure you don't turn the one/few PC with a Gift into a "Chosen One" aka Star of the Show aka McGuffin.

One idea:  you may wish to consider giving everybody some minor magic/psychic thing, as a "secret" that each of them keeps quiet about, because "everyone knows" that's just superstitious nonsense.

Well, in the RPG sense, 'modern' means 'lots of guns, no armor at all, and learn the difference between cover and concealment'

I did consider Cthulhu, but I'd pitched BRP to the young lady as 'everything to do everything in one book' so I want to keep it to that.

Yes, SAN rolls will be part of it. By 1917 nearly every adult male within 1000 miles of Paris had lost some SAN points through one cause or another, and more than a few women and children as well.

I'm very guarded about having The One in the game. If Powers are selected and they are used I plan on narrating them as part of the environment rather than 'magick-with-'k' as in FRPGs. No lightning bolts but the lightning might hit some masonry which falls on the target for the exact same damage, that sort of thing.

The trinket suggestion isn't bad. Superstition was rife and everybody had some kind of voodoo totem of one kind or another. I'll give that one serious thought.

[g33k]

Shelter in a monastery... That could go lots of different ways.  An old ghost to lay, accidentally freeing an imprisoned demon, full-on Night of the Living Dead zombie siege, etc 

Maybe someone else took shelter a while ago, and wants to drive them out; someone setting up supplies to run a behind-the-lines observation post for the Allies?  Maybe they know some secret passage(s) and can move freely but unseen.  So a "good guy" but still secret from them.  Mundane, but still mysterious, and possibly eerie.

[svensson]

Could even be completely mundane... a band of deserters, for example.

[g33k]

 

9 minutes ago, svensson said:

Could even be completely mundane... a band of deserters, for example.

Oh yeah, lots of potential for a Scooby-bad, mundane evil dressed up as occult.

Wolves were rare, but not unknown (last verfied sighting in 1930s, until some Italian wolves crossed again in the 90's); some howling, and fearful peasants muttering about loup garou, can ratchet the tension up.  Bet none of their ammo is silver!

[alter]

Search for No Mans Land for Call of Cthulhu, but You have to change it a little bit. 

[svensson]

1 hour ago, alter said:

Search for No Mans Land for Call of Cthulhu, but You have to change it a little bit. 

I'll look for it. Thanks.

 

[10baseT]

It sounds like fun. I'm always leery of giving anyone any sort of magic but i do like your reasoning. One of the things i like about WW1 CoC or BRP is the different type of jobs a soldier could have. Like in your case, someone can be the pigeon handler and he has 2-3 in a little cage with him. Since they're lost, they hope that after the storm, they can let one loose and it will circle a few times, then fly to HQ. All they need to do is watch to see which way it goes... but they're sick and during the night, only 1 remains alive in the morning (make your animal handler roll). I read an AEF pamphlet on pigeon husbandry for a signalman and thought it was the greatest. Anyway, your scenario sounds fun.

[svensson]

1 hour ago, 10baseT said:

It sounds like fun. I'm always leery of giving anyone any sort of magic but i do like your reasoning. One of the things i like about WW1 CoC or BRP is the different type of jobs a soldier could have. Like in your case, someone can be the pigeon handler and he has 2-3 in a little cage with him. Since they're lost, they hope that after the storm, they can let one loose and it will circle a few times, then fly to HQ. All they need to do is watch to see which way it goes... but they're sick and during the night, only 1 remains alive in the morning (make your animal handler roll). I read an AEF pamphlet on pigeon husbandry for a signalman and thought it was the greatest. Anyway, your scenario sounds fun.

Side note to the pigeon-handler thing...

When the Special Forces went into Afghanistan right after 9/11, they had to have WWII manuals on how to handle mules sent to them. The horses they could figure out, but muleskinning was an entirely lost art in the Army by then

[colinabrett]

Sounds like a fascinating scenario. Do keep us posted.

I did a brief Google search for "weird events in world war 1". A skim through the following lists might give you some ideas:

http://listverse.com/2017/11/04/10-bizarre-stories-from-the-great-war/

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/mysteries-controversies-wwi.html

One story that grabs me is the completely mundane story of the Lost Treasure Of The Tsars. What if one of the PCs is carrying a hallmarked ingot of the Tsar's gold? Lots of Conceal Object rolls and the sort of paranoia (SAN rolls) that accompanies a valuable, hidden treasure. A heavy gold bar could also be used as a murder weapon 😉

On the supernatural side, there is the Angel of Mons. In a fiction piece written by Arthur Machen, he describes phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt destroying the Germans. This led to reports of more supernatural influences, aiding the Allies. There's plenty of ancient history hidden in a Mediaeval monastery. Perhaps something could be "woken".

I hope you find the above links helpful.

Regards,

Colin

 

 

[svensson]

4 hours ago, colinabrett said:

Sounds like a fascinating scenario. Do keep us posted.

I did a brief Google search for "weird events in world war 1". A skim through the following lists might give you some ideas:

http://listverse.com/2017/11/04/10-bizarre-stories-from-the-great-war/

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/mysteries-controversies-wwi.html

One story that grabs me is the completely mundane story of the Lost Treasure Of The Tsars. What if one of the PCs is carrying a hallmarked ingot of the Tsar's gold? Lots of Conceal Object rolls and the sort of paranoia (SAN rolls) that accompanies a valuable, hidden treasure. A heavy gold bar could also be used as a murder weapon 😉

On the supernatural side, there is the Angel of Mons. In a fiction piece written by Arthur Machen, he describes phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt destroying the Germans. This led to reports of more supernatural influences, aiding the Allies. There's plenty of ancient history hidden in a Mediaeval monastery. Perhaps something could be "woken".

I hope you find the above links helpful.

Regards,

Colin

 

 

Thanks Colin. Yeah, I was aware of much of this.

I've other things in mind as well. One thought that occurred to me was that the monastery was 'haunted' by a band of deserters, perhaps aided and abetted by an actual supernatural force. That's all still up in the air.

[ORtrail]

More of an out of left field suggestion, but odd people running around asking questions about everything and using the wrong tense in sentences about "World War I" instead of "The Great War".   The smirks when they saw your camera were a bit much, to be honest.  It seems that when you live in interesting times, you get interesting visitors.  

 

[svensson]

Nice of you to say /support.

Since I'm writing the scenario for an American audience, I'm using American terminology for it. The Great War /'War One' didn't effect America the same way it did England. While we suffered frightful casualties we didn't lose an entire generation to the meat grinding abattoir of the trenches. Therefore the War doesn't ring in our consciousness the same way it does for England, France, and Germany.

[svensson]

UPDATES:

1. Characters:

Decided that the military guys will be one each British, French and German. The Tommy and the poilu are separated from their respective patrols. The Tommy is bringing along the German, who was recently captured. Plot twist: The 'Frenchman' is a Foreign Legionnaire from Bavaria. He knows the German POW from school... "Klaus?! Is that you???" "Uh, they call me 'Claude' now, Hans..."

The civilian characters are a refugee farmer, a Red Cross medical volunteer, and one wild card... a teacher or some other mentally focused character.

2. Scenario:

It wont be specifically Cthulhu Mythos, but will include mystical elements. A band of deserters [mostly French and Germans] have taken shelter in the monastic basements. They're all more than a little paranoid and with the recent battles in the area, they've been drinking water that's been heavily polluted with arsenic. There are, however, several grains of truth to their paranoia. Firstly, if they get caught by the authorities there is a very good chance they'll be shot. Secondly, the crypt really is haunted by the ghost of a Knight Templar who was denied shriving and Christian burial when he wouldn't give evidence against the order. The scenario involved both dealing with the desperate and somewhat half-crazed deserters and putting the spirit of the Templar to rest.

[soltakss]

Sounds good to me. It looks as though you have got Character Generation about right. 

[svensson]

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

Sounds good to me. It looks as though you have got Character Generation about right. 

Thanks! I appreciate it. I have a bad habit of over-thinking things so the encouragement is helpful.

[seneschal]

Are these desperate people the player-characters or NPCs the investigators will get thrown in with?  Also, the Templar sounds like he was a loyal, honorable guy in life.  What’s his beef with temporary houseguests?

[g33k]

5 hours ago, seneschal said:

... Also, the Templar sounds like he was a loyal, honorable guy in life.  What’s his beef with temporary houseguests?

I would presume it's not so much a "beef" as it is  "Prithee, my lord, but has been 600 years and I'd REALLY like some Last Rites so I can move on..."

 

 

Possibly modified by "It has been SIX HUNDRED YEARS you whoresons, now FETCH A PRIEST or I will DROP THIS CASTLE ONTO THY PATE!"

😉

[ORtrail]

On 4/13/2019 at 5:47 AM, seneschal said:

Are these desperate people the player-characters or NPCs the investigators will get thrown in with?  Also, the Templar sounds like he was a loyal, honorable guy in life.  What’s his beef with temporary houseguests?

Damage to the building by both sides?  Storage of munitions on sacred ground?  Killing with all these ranged weapons  is dishonorable, especially the snipers!

[svensson]

On 4/13/2019 at 5:47 AM, seneschal said:

Are these desperate people the player-characters or NPCs the investigators will get thrown in with?  Also, the Templar sounds like he was a loyal, honorable guy in life.  What’s his beef with temporary houseguests?

The players begin the scenario approaching the ruin amidst a driving rainstorm in the middle of the night in two groups; one being the Commonwealth soldiers and their German POW, the second being the French Legionnaire and civilians. They then meet in the first batch of cover they can find, the cloister walk. Next comes a search for a reasonably dry place to ride out the storm.

After this gets established, the strange stuff starts happening. After I get the paranoia up to a reasonable level, they meet the half-mad deserters in the basement. THEN the player with the most investment in Powers will meet the shade of Seigneur Gui de Mont Massif.

Now at this point I could have gotten complicated with it, but for an introduction simpler is usually better. All Sir Gui wants is to be shriven and laid to rest with a sword. A bayonet will not do. The players can search the abbey for one or head out into battlefields looking for the remains of a dead officer who carried one.

IF the players can put Sir Gui to rest, it will restore enough SAN points with the deserters that they're willing to be brought in peacefully.

The end rewards are promotions for the troops, perhaps decorations, promotions and REP bonuses for the civilians and jobs away from the front lines for them and their families...

Edited April 18, 2019 by svensson

[svensson]

17 hours ago, ORtrail said:

Damage to the building by both sides?  Storage of munitions on sacred ground?  Killing with all these ranged weapons  is dishonorable, especially the snipers!

So, I'm a Civil War reenactor in the US. One of the things that I've learned is just how much disruption to the environment that warfare does, especially when there is a large body count. For example, cholera, dysentery, typhus were rife in the immediate surrounds of Gettysburg for months after the battle. Too many of the dead were left to rot in the hot July weather and this infected the whole water table with disease. Furthermore, most of the fit men able to put those bodies into proper graves were off serving in the Union army. The government had to mobilize a huge workforce of mostly freed blacks and invalid ex-soldiers to collect, identify, and inter the dead before plague broke out.

This was also true in Northern France, only orders of magnitude worse. And added to the biological effects are the effects of the chemicals in modern munitions... chlorine, phosgene, ammonia, arsenic, lead, etc.... Some of which is still present today.

So my premise with the half-mad deserters is that their only source of water has been a polluted well and they're suffering from mild cases of heavy metal and arsenic poisoning.

[ORtrail]

Mental fatigue, shell shock, not that hard to sell the idea that some people are going to snap under the pressure.  Never thought about the contaminated water issue, but the problem growing worse the longer they stay works really well in your scenario. 

[Zit]

On 4/12/2019 at 9:55 AM, svensson said:

Plot twist: The 'Frenchman' is a Foreign Legionnaire from Bavaria. He knows the German POW from school... "Klaus?! Is that you???" "Uh, they call me 'Claude' now, Hans..."

You could make the French an Alsacian instead, who left the -at this time German- Alsace because he is for a French Alsace (a "French from Outside" as they used to call themselves, and they were a lot). Alsace was one of the main reason why France declared war to Germany. It is more credible I think than a Bavarian in the French army, which is a bit weird.

And of course, there is plenty of material to raise zombies...

If you can read French or find them in English, you may find inspiration in the comics made by Jacques Tardi.

Edited May 4, 2019 by Zit
additional info

[jean]

For the record, on august  3rd 1914, Germany declared war to France