Shadowgate (Inactive)

Game Master Matt, Garnished Game Designer


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The world of Cassiri is recovering economically and physically from the wounds leftover from the First Great War.

To the west, the island nation Maligun (North America) has all but removed itself from the politics of the eastern continental nations and has devoted its time in advancing its own agendas.

Meanwhile, the nations of Damyrca (Western Europe) and Valros (United Kingdom), having emerged as victors against the forces of Arcova, have claimed much of that nation's territory.

Arcova (Eastern Europe), having lost the First Great War sees itself reduced to but a fragment of its former power. Seething with anger and harboring a sense of injustice, plans for a hopefully different future.

To the south of Arcova, the nation of Darbeid (Middle East) advances more and more in technology and discovering large resource stockpiles beneath its deserts, begins to emerge as a serious power.

After the First Great War, Utumbe (South Africa) shakes off the last of its colonial roots and begins a road to becoming its own master after years of being a Valrosian and Damyrcan colony.

To the eastern north, the winterbound nation of Galloveer (Russia) also recovers, but its scientists and engineers have begun funding large experiments into the strange metallic chasms carved into its northern shores. What lingers within is anybody's guess.

Finally, Tokushima (Asia) slowly reclaims the Lost Isles from the deeps and seeks to harness the resources within to advance its own imperialistic agenda.

The Summer of 1934 however, everything changed. Under the militaristic reign of Lord Dreven Naedenbaerg, Arcova rises from its wounded knees and along with the aid of the imperialistic Tokushima, begins a struggle for dominance of the world.

Friend and foe alike will become embroiled in the Second Great War. Will your characters be strong enough to survive, yet alone end what could very well lead to a Cassiri changed beyond all recognition.
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Players will join Shadowgate, a multi-national military society whose job is to enforce peace throughout the Second Great War. The nations of Arcova and Tokushima form the Pact while Valros and Damyrca reform the old Union. For now, Maligun, Galloveer, Darbeid and Utumbe remain neutral.
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Character Creation
- 1st level
- 20 point buy
- Class Restrictions: None
- Race Restrictions: Human (choose a nationality below)
- Average starting wealth
- Domain spellcasters select any two domains.
- Firearms are commonplace. Advanced firearms are not available.
- 2 Traits, no campaign/region specific traits
- 1 Drawback maximum

Nationality
- Maligun (North America)
- Galloveer (Russia)
- Valros (United Kingdom)
- Damyrca (Western Europe)
- Darbeid (Middle East)
- Utumbe (Africa)

- Tokushima (Asia)
- Arcova (East Europe)

WARNING: I AM NOT READY TO FULLY RECRUIT FOR THE ACTUAL CAMPAIGN. I DO NEED SOME PEOPLE WILLING TO PLAYTEST BITS AND PIECES OF IT FIRST AS I WRITE IT, HELP OUT WITH THE STORY/FLESH OUT THE SETTING, ETC.

Sczarni

Looks interesting. How much time do I have to put something together? I might want to try one of the new classes.


Dotting for interest. I'll give an idea some thought and be back with you shortly.


This sounds kind of fun. Are there any mechanical differences between the nationalities?


I would be willing to help with this as well: World building is a hobby of mine. What sort of things did you want our help focusing on?


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Interesting. I've done play testing before. And some world building too.

Are 3rd party products allowed?

Any thoughts to how you would handle magic?

Suggestion: The words of power system may work nicely with this setting. Magic could be re-fluffed into some sort of physics-magic. In any modern war, the country with the best scientist, and the country that had the best technology and resources, usually wins the war. Each word of power learned be an additional mathematical formula or law known by the spell caster.

For the words of power, each word could signify a different math formula. For example, a wizard would be a Harvard physics doctorate. A sorcerer would be more akin to a boy genius. So, Albert Einstein would be an epic level sorcerer. And Oppenheimer would be an epic level wizard.


Also... what sort of tech level are you looking at? I know you mentioned that firearms are commonplace, but still not advanced... but what about things like travel? Are we still looking at wind-powered ships, magic and/or beasts for flight, versus things like teleportation and dimension doors, etc.

Any other changes to weapons/armor, or will the Second Great War be fought by people in plate wielding greatswords and longbows? :D

This is a cool idea. :)


What if you set magic on one side of the scale, and technology on the other? you could have the germans Arcova (East Europe) and the Russians Galloveer (Russia) be tech oriented, and the rest of the world be magic oriented, which is why arcova could have surprised everyone the way german did during WWII ("no one can make metal houses that walk! don't you know how much golems cost?"..."what the heck are those rolling houses with the giant tubes on the top?"..."What the hell is a 'tank'?")


This sounds pretty interesting...


I love the world wars; they are an amazing bit of history and provides an excellent setting. Introducing this into a fantasy-esque world sounds very interesting and hopefully provides good storyline for players to interact with and really affect the game world. As an amateur history buff, I would love to see this game turn out well and would be more than willing to offer advice or suggestions if requested, but would also enjoy to immerse myself into a world crafted by another.


As someone who's been trying for years (unsuccessfully) to get some of my friends to play a campaign set in late baroque Europe, I find the idea fun and would be happy to help out/try things out.


Sounds very interesting. I'll see about putting together something...Arcova or Galloveer


Vrog Skyreaver wrote:
What if you set magic on one side of the scale, and technology on the other? you could have the germans Arcova (East Europe) and the Russians Galloveer (Russia) be tech oriented, and the rest of the world be magic oriented, which is why arcova could have surprised everyone the way german did during WWII ("no one can make metal houses that walk! don't you know how much golems cost?"..."what the heck are those rolling houses with the giant tubes on the top?"..."What the hell is a 'tank'?")

That is a very common fantasy theme. And for good reason. However, which classes would embody the technological side of the coin?

The alchemist, Archivist, and Machinesmith all tech based classes that rely on magic.

Only the gunslinger and tinker rely solely on technology and not magic. Is that enough Classes on the flip side of the coin?


Also, thinking about what type of magic might make a difference.

If you're basing a country on Soviet Russia (Galloveer), they'd be unlikely to tolerate religious organizations, meaning Druids would be unlikely and all healing coming from either permitted, atheist Oracles or Clerics of a specific, non-theistic moral philosophy.

Interwar Germany (Arcova), with its extremely narrow views on permissible magic and art, would probably frown on unpredictable things like Sorcerers, Witches, and Oracles, while espousing one tolerated school of magic.

The nation based on Imperial Japan (Tokushima), with a strongly-codified set of social manners and responsibility, would lean heavily Lawful, encouraging Monks (and maybe Paladins) in its armies while disapproving of Bards and Barbarians.

et cetera... but only if you want to keep the same basic national alignments (I'd wager Japan and Russia leaned LN, Nazi Germani LE, the UK and America N or NG, with Western Europe and the Middle East leaning more Chaotic)


I would argue that druids are quite rare every where due to the influx of technology during the worldwide industrial revolution - between 1910 and 1935, depending on the country. The only druids are probably from small, very rural places - Australian aboriginal tribes, Zuni people's of Africa, Native Americans who still follow their ancestry, etc. In other words, it would depend on the background of the character.

As for religions in the USSR - clerics can worship a concept our ideal. So a cleric could get their powers from the Communist Manifesto. There were also many underground faiths during the time of the USSR as well. So a Russian cleric could be anything.

On the flip side, a JP Morgan like character could be a cleric and get their power from their belief in Capitalism.

I would argue that America would be CN because we are viewed to be more self centered by the rest of the world than what TN would allow.


Question- Shadowgate is a separate entity fro the Pact and Union, correct?

Am i on the right track in thinking along the lines that it is something like the League of Extraordinary Gentleman?


LibraryRPGamer wrote:

Question- Shadowgate is a separate entity fro the Pact and Union, correct?

Am i on the right track in thinking along the lines that it is something like the League of Extraordinary Gentleman?

You are indeed on the right track. For those interested, I would be glad to get assistance. When I get back from my weekend I'll update more on the technology levels and fluff.


Here are some basic ideas I came up with for Shadowgate. I'll be happy to developed any of these ideas further if you like them.

Version 1:
All of the biblical and mythological catastrophes are real and were the results of man, not gods. The founding members of Shadowgate were the heroes of antiquity - Hercules, Vishnu, Sun Wukong, etc. - who saw magic/technology destroy their world. These demigods are still alive and, through Shadowgate, seek to prevent this knowledge from being used ever again. Now, with the outbreak of a second world war, scientists are unwittingly discovering these long lost secrets and Shadowgate's agents must prevent another biblical-sized disaster before it is too late.

NOTE - this is a good way to have a campaign focused around Nazi Occultism (ex. A-bomb is cross-engineered technology from Atlantis) as well as incorporate any kind of real world mythology into the game.


Version 2:
Shadowgate was a "big brother", militaristic organization secretly created during the Treaty of Versailles. At the time, the world leaders believe they could not trust themselves to prevent another world war so they created Shadowgate and purposely gave the organization authority to use any clout (money, information, etc.) to keep the peace. Now that a second world war is here, the world governments believe that Shadowgate has failed...and this belief is leading them to a path of distraction. Officially disbanded, the last remaining agents of Shadowgate must prove to the world, and themselves, that peace can yet again be maintained...by any means necessary.

NOTE - this is a good way to do a spy-vs-spy type campaign. It also can have an "Inglorious B@st@rds"-type vibe if you wish.


Version 3:
Shadowgate is a clandestine organization spoken in hushed tones in the company of the very rich and powerful. Nearly every billionaire and top brass government official pays dues to the secret organization in the order of tens of millions, annually. Those that pay into the pot are promised great financial rewards beyond their wildest dreams. Shadowgate is essentially a secret bank that keeps the peace by financial stability. However, over the years, the leaders of Shadowgate have become greedy, and in their greed, have caused financial unrest in Damyrca (Germany) and this oversight has led to war. Now, Shadowgate is trying to amend for its past mistakes.

NOTE: This is a good way to play a more realistic game based around the depression in Germany that lead to WW2.

Version 4:
Many legends surround the Knights Templar. However, none even hint at the truth. When the Knights fell, the organization was split in two - the mundane Masons, which oversaw the reconstruction of the human race, and Shadowgate, which kept secret watch and protected humanity from future atrocities. Secretly funded by the Vatican and Switzerland, Shadowgate has remained active all these centuries. Now with the outbreak of war, Shadowgate must rise from obscurity to protect the world.

NOTE: Shadowgate can, in some way, be connected with the Swiss Guard. This game may have more religions undertones than the others. This version of Shadowgate may be well suited for an undead-type WW2 campaign.


I quite enjoy the first and the fourth versions, the first being my preferred of the four.

Some really great ideas LibraryRPGamer. I'd be very interested in working further on this too.


I'd like to expand options 1 and 4. But first i need to know how you would like to handle magic/technology and if you will allow 3pp Classes.


Considering that the SS used skulls as their actual battalion emblems, and a lot of high-ranking Nazis were historically obsessed with a search for magical immortality, the undead certainly have a potential place in WWII.

That said, how much is this like real Europe? Because the division of the minor powers seems quite different.

I also have a bunch of unused notes on how to assign D&D races/cultures to early modern Europe (16th-18th centuries), which is fun to think about if that's the direction you want to go.


I assume valros (UK) and western...er...europe have extensive colonial possessions and dominions such as its version of Australia, Canada and New Zealand? Also Africa. If so can you play a colonial?
Also is there a India equivalent, another nation ruled by varos? And of course, China (perhaps call it shing?).
This is very interesting.


LibraryRPGamer wrote:

That is a very common fantasy theme. And for good reason. However, which classes would embody the technological side of the coin?

The alchemist, Archivist, and Machinesmith all tech based classes that rely on magic.

Only the gunslinger and tinker rely solely on technology and not magic. Is that enough Classes on the flip side of the coin?

the alchemist and machinesmith are tech based classes that could very easily have the magic removed from them. not sure about the archivist.

When talking about the division of classes, you could take all of the non-magic classes and divide them between Germany and Russia, resulting in a situation where you would have combat styles and techniques not available in the rest of the world available and abundant in those two countries. For example, the Russians would have fighters and rangers (with one of the archetypes that don't use spells of course), and the germans could get rogues and monks.

Additionally, if we're doing a split between magic and technology, we should probably think of a reason why any nations who use technology do so.


Of course this is a simplified version of WWII and it would have to be, I don't think we really want to get into how Poles would be not happy about being lumped in with Germans in 'Arcova' or Chinese being with the Japanese in 'Tokushima'. How would you deal with that tricky part of all of this? Best would be to just say it's WWII 'inspried' I guess.

Getting away from that it would be a simple and obvious thing to keep all the 'Eastern flavoured' classes and restrict them to the Tokushima 'faction'. Samurais, Ninjas, Monks etc. Simple way to world build. You could play 'renegade' or 'rebels' if you wanted to use them as a part of the Union.

As for 'Galoveer'. 'White' Galoveer, inspired by Rasputin, seems like it would be heavily into arcane magic, however 'Red' Russia would probably be very anti that sort of thing as well. So maybe arcane magic is heavily restricted in Galoveer?


Call the king (emperor?, chairman? ) of galoveer the iron king (sic Stalin) with a powerful secret police. Arcane magic would be controlled closely, divine magic maybe bannned? Maybe they have mind police, ie psionics. Lots of possibilities.


I agree that we should keep things simple.

This game could be set in an alternate history- one where magic exists. This could have caused some counties to be formed and others not. This can explain the more generic "WW2 inspired" country designations that the GM originally posted.

An alternate history can also give an excuse for having not as advanced technology/guns as those that really existed during WW2. In this history technology could be something Handed down by the ancients - now protected and controlled by Shadowgate.


Are there any nations which are NOT part of Shadowgate?


As mentioned, this was simply inspired by WWII. I do not want to recreate WWII but create a campaign set in a fantasy/low technology setting which bases itself off the main events of WWII; namely a war versus an overwhelming opponent raging across the continent.

The level of technology was yet to be determined but if "Rasputing Must Die!" did as well as it did, I see no reason to not have the same level of technology in the campaign as there actually was during WWII. Whether this is actual science or magic was not determined yet.

As for the "nations", these were extremely simplified. There can easily be more added.


^This helps!

What about religion - do you want to have real world religions, incorporate the Golorian pantheon, or do something totally original?


One of the big turning points of WWII, in the history of warfare, was that it was fought in large part by scientists and engineers.

The German V2 flying rocket, when it was introduced, was the sort of long-range weapon that nobody knew how to fight. Same with the U-Boats, and, on the American side, anti-ship bombs that could skim along the surface until they hit a target.

Early in the war, the Polish government, in exile, cracked the German communication codes using British-devised analytical engines. This intelligence, kept in secret, allowed England to often know about raids ahead of time, saving an enormous amount of weapons and lives in the Battle of Britain.

In Sicily, the American decipherment of the Axis Shipping Codes meant we could reliably sink half the troop transports fleeing from Northern Africa. And codebooks looted from the Japanese in Australia were used to track down and assassinate the head of the Japanese Navy, as well as reinforce the Battle of Midway at the right time, crucial turning points in the war.

But it wasn't just about codebreakers, or bombs (Although the smarter-burning bombs and Navajo codetalkers of the later years played a huge help in the war as well). During the invasion of Normandy, specially-invented "portable harbors" were used to rapidly deploy tanks and supplies to land in a manner no thought possible by almost the entire world. As the war dragged on, German ingenuity reached amazing heights, devising ways to make conveyor belts out of prisoners' hair and synthetic motor oil out of coal and vegetables.

And then, oh god, there were the spies. The Germans had over 20 spy networks in England, each of which was tracked down and either killed or converted by the British. One secret agent, with a network of "fictitious" spies working under him, sent Hitler reports from his network of over 30 highly-paid (entirely fake) agents, receiving salaries of over a million pounds that went straight into the British war effort.

Basically, WWII is a war setting in which a highly skilled and intelligent party, stealing state magical secrets and hunting down spies, really could turn the tide of some major battles.

Liberty's Edge

And what about Summoners? Granted it's a little more work for a medium sized Summoner to turn his eidolon into a flying mount than it is for a small sized Summoner, but given the base population sizes of the countries that you're working with one or more of them should have a relatively effective aerial cavalry as a result.


I recommend not having too many countries/locations. In reality, how many of these are we going to explore/visit during the course of the campaign. Each additional local = more work.
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There is a WW1 alternate history, steampunk book series called "Leviathan" by Scott Westerfeld.

In the series, the Allies used genetic based bio-engendered life forms based on Charles Darwin's discoveries. For example, the "Leviathan" was a giant, flying whale that the Darwinists used as a dirigible battle ship.

The Central Powers, on the other hand, used advanced mechanical technology - mainly mechanical spiders and other walkers.

America, on the other hand, used both machines and Darwinist genetics. They were still neutral at the time of the novel.
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My point is that we could have both technology and magic within the same world and just designate one to the Pact and the other to the Union. It wouldn't be the most "historically accurate" option, but, it would make things easier. A descriptive setting background can clear up any discrepancies with the real world.


Well, a lot of the most interesting countries in WWII stayed neutral, but economically or tactically contributed to one side or the other (or were invaded to "keep the enemies from invading," like Iceland and Norway). Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Mexico—all of them could have got involved, but didn't, and are countries that could be represented in a similar world but could also be just sort of mentioned as in-the-background.


For 'neutral' powers you could have one 'city' that apes Switzerland/Sweden. That would be an amazing setting for intrigue. And maybe one 'region' to ape South America where baddies could flee and there could be a mission to hunt them down as a sort of coda.


Ape? Did you mean something else?


Well mimics, or is inspired by, is all I was getting at. Switzerland and South America were very interesting places during and after WW II.


One name, casablanca.


I agree that the geo-political details of WW2 are fascinating and that some of those themes should be included. However, the OP wants the game to primarily revolve around a group who tries to keep the peace while a war monger tries to conquer the world. And somehow both magic and technology come into play.

I know it's extremely simplified. WW2 was much much more complex. But the more simplified version seems to be what the OP wants.


Alright, here is another idea of how to incorporate magic.

The 3 Powers:

There are three major powers in the world. They are:

1) Arcane Magic - power from one's self/ambitions
2) Divine Magic - power from one's belief/devotions
3) Techno Magic - power from one's creation/achievements, now called "Technology"

Every person has the capacity within them to use one of these powers but few have the skill or the drive to fully understand the power and truly control it (aka. Most people are low level NPCs w/o powers). Rarer still are those able to master two of the powers. And, someone able to harness all three powers is a once-in-a-millennia event.

The world believes these three powers to be separate and unaffected by the others. But, in reality, these three powers are linked, and when combined in great and equal parts, cause unfathomable destruction. Shadowgate is a secret organization that seeks to limit and balance these three powers to prevent future worldwide catastrophes. However, three nations under Shadowgate's watch are creating the perfect mix of Arcane, Divine, and Techno magics that could doom us all.

ARCOVA (Eastern Europe) - Lord Dreven Naedenbaerg seeks nothing else but to rule the world. In his quest for power, he has taken a wounded nation and focused its scientists, mages, and clerics to discovering the ultimate weapon to win his war - a war which Arcova lost years ago. Of the three world leaders, only Lord Dreven knows the truth and is purposefully seeking the perfect balance. His citizens, however, are painfully oblivious to the truth.

GALLOVEER (Russia) - Ruled by the oppressive Iron King, Galloveer is a nation in constant political unrest. In an attempt to control his people, and with fear of powers he cannot possess, the Iron King has decreed all Divine and Arcane magics illegal. At the same time, the Iron King has made great advances in Technology. This flux has unwittingly created the perfect mixture of the three powers, that, in the hands of the Iron King, could wreck the world.

MALIGUN (N. America) - Maligun is a realm of good intentions. A place for all peoples to gather and find peace. What started as a colony of despots has become a world leader of prosperity. In the 450 odd years since Maligun was discovered, peoples from all nations have gathered to its shores for the hope of peace. And with them, the powers from their homeland. Thus, all three powers have been steadily growing at equal rates, and only now have they reached the magnitude to cause harm.

ALL other countries control or have "high levels" of either 1 or 2 of the powers, but not all 3. For example, if we are basing Tokushima on the Far East (Japan/China) then they are probably a feudal system with strong traditions and great technological achievement. So, Tokushima would have high concentrations of Divine and Techno magic, but not Arcane Magic.

I think we can agree that these were the three main nations during/after WW2 - the three countries that ran the race for technological supremacy and building the bomb. It could be argued that the UK was a major player too, but, they eventually gave their resources to aid the USA to help bring a swifter end to the war. So, I did not include them in the "big 3".

If you like where this is going, I can take this basic concept and use it for the premise to develop the versions 1 and 2 of the Shadowgate concepts I posted above earlier. It gives me something of a level playing field to work with.


I think you are discounting the uk a bit. Britain and its empire fought germany and italy without much help for nearly a year after france fell, and although suffered defeats never gave in. Nearly two years if the battle of france is included.

Also japan had been fighting since 1937 in china. It had a very powerful fleet. Nearly every army in the world talks about fighti g yo the last man. Japan was the only one that did with regularity.

I think you should have 5 powers, not 3.


Well in the end it is Spicy Dragon's call on what he wants. It's WW II 'inspired' after all and getting too detailed gets into really thorny issues that I don't think anybody wants to deal with when creating a fun RPG setting/world.

One way to abstract IF Spicy Dragon wants to go the route is to simplify 'MALIGUN' into not 'North America' but 'The Allies' and have different 'faction leaders' within Maligun that can represent different aspects of the historical allies with one leader being more 'American-like' while another having more 'British flavour'.


Azih wrote:
Well in the end it is Spicy Dragon's call on what he wants. It's WW II 'inspired' after all and getting too detailed gets into really thorny issues that I don't think anybody wants to deal with when creating a fun RPG setting/world.

Curiosity struck so I looked it up. There were 114 countries that were "affected" by WW2. Now I'm not suggesting that any of these countries are in any way less than the ones we have already discussed, but, from a game design standpoint, I certainly do not want to research all 144 nations and give them each a unique tie-in. Too much complexity turns away players, and salability, if this were a for-profit venture.

Azih wrote:
One way to abstract IF Spicy Dragon wants to go the route is to simplify 'MALIGUN' into not 'North America' but 'The Allies' and have different 'faction leaders' within Maligun that can represent different aspects of the historical allies with one leader being more 'American-like' while another having more 'British flavour'.

This is a cool idea. It could even put a more medieval/fantasy spin on it by having Maligun ruled by a single High King with lesser rulers that represent the various "inspired by" RL nations that comprised the Allies - much like the High Kings of Ireland.

For the inspired Axes powers, Lord Dreven Naedenbaerg could be in the process of conquering the to-be allies (Italy, Japan, etc.)

This way, we have two clearly defined sides - each with their own multiple, unique cultures and areas of exploration.

It would keep things simple enough but allow us to expand on any certain area, if we choose.


chillblame wrote:

I think you are discounting the uk a bit. Britain and its empire fought germany and italy without much help for nearly a year after france fell, and although suffered defeats never gave in. Nearly two years if the battle of france is included.

Also japan had been fighting since 1937 in china. It had a very powerful fleet. Nearly every army in the world talks about fighti g yo the last man. Japan was the only one that did with regularity.

I think you should have 5 powers, not 3.

Yes, but this proposition is not based on military might nor "who fought the longest" or "who fought with the most intensity" but rather which countries developed the most technology (aka building the bomb) during the war. Those three were Germany, Russia, and the USA. It's not perfect, but, it works, I think, and is simple enough for others to work with, if they choose.

In my proposition, when the three magics - Arcane, Divine, Techno - are combined equally, and in high quantities, it brings a force powerful enough to threaten the world. However, if these three powers are separate, if only two are of high quantity, or, all three exist in the same area but are of low quality, then no "mega power" exists and the world is "safe".

In this premise, Shadowgate is an organization that strives to prevent any one nation from creating the "perfect mix" of the three powers that could yield destruction of the entire world.

If anyone has an alternate suggestion, please feel free to write a detailed sample and post it. The more detail we can get, the more ideas we can bounce off of each other.


I think by "3 powers" he meant "3 types of magic," not just three countries.


As a side note, I kept the premise simple so as to permit growth and expansion of ideas. I'm not set on any fixed idea, rather I quite enjoy this mass brainstorming session.

I would however like to keep the main THEMES of World War 2 present, and Maligun's distance from the conflict at the start of the war and its subsequent military campaign once Tokushima causes the equivalent of Pearl Harbor.

I would like to mine actual events from history but modified. So players would get to take part in Pearl Harbor, D-Day, wars amid the Maginot Line, parachuting/infiltration missions, freeing enslaved citizens from prison camps, etc.

Each adventure of the campaign would focus on a different mission. Often the players would be airlifted or transported to the mission sites and proceed from there.

They are an efficient tactical team out to end this war.


Have you read Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon? Not sure if I can recommend it in good faith, since the book's like 1400 pages, but it's got a big side-story about a group of expert commandos and scientists who sneak around Europe and Asia decoding messages and assisting in major battles.


I have started it but never got around to finishing it. Encrypted messages and decoding definitely have their place in Shadowgate however!

A big question, how would you go about balancing a setting where everyone is using firearms as the range weapons of choice? It seems that armor becomes quite weak no?


So, the PCs would be a special ops task force - "Rainbow Six meets League of Extraordinary Gentlemen".

If Shadowgate is like every other secretive "super task force"-type organization in modern fiction they have soldiers, code breakers, spies, etc. Each of these could be a background players select during character generation. Each background could give free mechanical benefits such as feats.

The Soldier background, for example, could give the PC Gunsmithing and Point Blank Shot feats for free. If this game is going to be ranged combat heavy, then everyone will need to know how to fire a gun. These backgrounds could help reduce the feat tax for ranged combat - leveling the requirements for firing a gun for all character builds.

For armor, the easiest thing would probably be to create a separate armor category - one that grants deflection or dodge bonuses to AC - both enhance Touch AC. Keep prices and bonuses comparable to the armor already available in the Core books.

Armor granting a dodge bonus would be best because it can then stack with Rings of Protection, spells, and whatnot.


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Now for that, you've just got to look at history.

Armor mostly stopped being used by the Napoleonic wars—armor was expensive to manufacture, guns cheap, so it was much easier to have a lot of people with guns. If you go with the "guns everywhere" option for pathfinder firearms, a proper rifle still costs 500 gp—much more than a longbow, which means trench soldiers and irregulars might still be fighting with longbows (especially in countries like Russia that have had less time to build up their arsenals).

Also, a compound longbow still has a longer range than a rifle, making them better for tactical snipers.

With the extreme amount of pillboxes/fortifications/jungle fighting in the Pacific, short-range combat often happened, leaving bayonets and flamethrower relatively practical, and allowing the Japanese to use katana-based banzai charges in a lot of tactical situations.

Just shift the focus a little bit away from guns and suddenly, while most people won't see the benefit to full plate, a bit of chain mail or leather armor and a shield might do well.


Excellent logic!

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