The Nazi Defences (Weird Wars II / Savage Worlds) (Inactive)

Game Master PhilOfCalth

Book Requirement: Savage Worlds core
Useful Aditional Books: Weird Wars II, The Horror Companion

Background: PCs will be patents in a field hospital in Kelmis during the battle of Aachen, which took the Americans a month to take at a huge cost in lives on both sides. The american struck the German defenses for the first time. Initial artillery and airborne bombardment was a complete failure, and not a single German pillbox was hit. The battle has been raging for one week when the game begins and behind american lines something else is happening. Patients are disappearing from the hospital at night and ghosts are said to walk the streets of the local towns. Local folklore and history is becoming current fact and it's up to the PCs to figure out what's going on.

What to Expect: Fear, misery, investigation, and the occult. There will be a very finite amount of encounters, not all of which you're supposed to win.

Character Creation: Characters are created using the Standard Route set out in the WWII book. If you don't have the book just post your character concept and I'll tell you the requirements etc. As in all savage worlds mechanics, it is ridiculously easy!
Additionally you will need to take at least one hindrance related to the injury that got you placed in the field hospital. These can be physical or mental illnesses. They cannot be something that would reduce your movement speed. Here's a list of suggestions:
Anemic, Bad Eyes, Delusional(Major), Hard of Hearing, One Arm, One Eye, Pasifist, Phobia, Ugly, Vengful(Major), Yellow, Bullet Magnet, Shell Shocked (Major), Slow, Angst, Bleeder, Combat Shock (Major), Jumpy, Screamer, Touched, Victim
Characters can be from any of the american forces that took part in the battle, as well as a Belgian civilian or freedom fighter (who speaks English and is being treated by the hospital)

Setting Rules: Sanity, Gritty Damage, Buildings and Fortifications, Battlefield Hazards, Skill Specialization, Forbidden Lore

Posting rules: Standard at least once a day on week days, and once over a weekend.

About me: This is a bit of an operation in learning for me. I have a lot of experience GMing PbP games but I'm more used to 40K RPG and PF rules. This will be the first savage worlds game I have run, so please be kind if I slip up. Also this will be my first time running anything in a horror setting, so I'll be trying for suspense, surprise, etc etc.

Could I play a German prisoner of war recovering at the hospital (not a Nazi, just a German soldier) or, barring that, a German civilian?

Civilian yes, soldier no. I don't see how I could "realistically" work a German soldier in

BTW civilians/freedom fighters get a $700 starting budget. Soldiers get $200 but they will also get their starting kit.

Will have my guy tomorrow.

I could probably come up with a good backstory, but if you say no, then no it is. A German civilian it is, then. Will have them up shortly.

Do you have the Weird Wars 2 book, or will you need me to post your equipment for you?

I have the book, thanks.

Reporting for duty sir

Background.
Snuffy Smith was plenty smart...smart enough to know that the best place to be in a fight is behind the rest of his company. He was also smart enough to know that the best way to not get volunteered into doing something was first of all to hide then if that didn't work to try to persuade the sarge that someone else was better suited than 'old snuffy' for the job. Using his system he had happily moved through France with the 30th. Unfortunately Snuffy didn't know that he was also a bullet magnet. He found that out the hard way on the very first day of fighting around Aachen when lagging behind his squad he was the only one hit by mortar shell fragments. His wounds aren't nearly bad enough to send him home so Snuffy is going to make he stay in the hospital last as long as possible. Technically, he should have already returned to his company but he's managed to persuade the docs that he needs a few more days to let his 'wounds' heal.

[This is WhtKnt's submission.]

Christel is a native of Aachen, and is very familiar with the streets on which she played as a child. She is knowledgeable in local legends and lore, as well as the general layout of Aachen. She is not a fighter, by any means, and is easily frightened, but has learned some of her father's trade. She speaks passable English.

@Snuffy, Christel - At first glance both of your characters look basically fine. I'll pick through them propperly tonight with my books.

@Snuffy - I'll post your standard equipment tonight. You'll also get $200 to spend, if you for example want a sidearm or some trinkets that you found in the field.

@Christel - The americans have not made it as far as the city of Aachen yet, so I'm hapy to assume that she lived on the outskirts.

I'll keep recruitment open until next Monday (30/09/13) then I'll put up the Game thread. I'll need at least 3 players to start and I can deal with up to 6.
I'll fill the Campaign info tab with background info and NPC details.

@Snuffy, Christel - At first glance both of your characters look basically fine. I'll pick through them propperly tonight with my books.

@Snuffy - I'll post your standard equipment tonight. You'll also get $200 to spend, if you for example want a sidearm or some trinkets that you found in the field.

@Christel - The americans have not made it as far as the city of Aachen yet, so I'm hapy to assume that she lived on the outskirts.

Would it be okay if Snuffy 'scrounged' a German Luger pistol at some point during fighting across France? He also found a couple of boxes of ammo. The stats are the exact same as a 38 revolver (2D6, RoF 1) but a souvenir like that seems more likely for a private to have access to than some officer's or MP's sidearm. Snuffy normally keeps it buried at the bottom of his pack.

Yes that's absolutely perfect. You don't need to buy ammo in Savage Worlds. There are rules for running out of Ammo in the WWII book but I won't be using them.

Also I've filled out the Campaign Info tab with some NPCs. I'll keep it up to date as the campaign goes on.

dot

@Snuffy - Your starting equipment is:
Steel helmet, bayonet or knife, Web gear (Web belt, suspenders, 4 ammo pouches), backpack, bandages, mess kit, canteen, gas mask, entrenching tool, spare uniform, boots, 4 pairs of socks, bedroll, rain poncho, shelter half.
You also own a M1 Garand or M1 Carbine or BAR but it has been taken from you and stored elsewhere while you are in hospital.

@Christol - Your character looks perfect

Thanks, boss. Outskirts works for me. Christel, as a civilian, is naturally nervous around soldiers, particularly the Americans, but is not frightened of them. She had been told by her father that these men were here to save her country from Herr Hitler. She views them as liberators, not invaders. She was taught English by her father, who learned it during the Great War.

Historically speaking the soldiers would have been told not to fraternize with Germans, but someone with local knowledge will be really useful. So that will make an interesting dynamic.

I figured as much, which is why I wanted to play such a character. You will find that I am very much a role-player (as opposed to a roll-player).

Name: SGT Henry "Hank" Hazzard
MOS: Combat Engineer

Background:

Henry Hazzard was the first to recruiter's office the day the Japs bombed Pearl. Seeking to join the Navy as a SEABEE, but the line was long due to the desire for revenge stirred in the American fighting man. Turning on his heel and marched right into the Army office. Nearly turned away due to his age, Hank convinced them his skills in demolition,garnered from years in the mining industry, would do them well. Three days later he was on his way to basic training and three years later he was in Germany on the the Siegfried Line after having seen action in Italy and France.

Hank, being a real soldier's soldier, stormed pill box after pill box, blowing tank traps, and barbed wire till he was caught by the blast of a German "potato masher" grenade. Waking two days later in a field hospital to find he was missing an eye and counting himself lucky.

I have the required books and will finish him off soon. I will taking the Edge: NCO and hindrance One Eye. Going to buy a shotgun instead of a SMG or rifle as it suits his needs.

You can't "sell" your M1/Thomson, but you can still buy a pump action with the $200 and have money left over.

@Snuffy - Your starting equipment is:

Steel helmet, bayonet or knife, Web gear (Web belt, suspenders, 4 ammo pouches), backpack, bandages, mess kit, canteen, gas mask, entrenching tool, spare uniform, boots, 4 pairs of socks, bedroll, rain poncho, shelter half.
You also own a M1 Garand or M1 Carbine or BAR but it has been taken from you and stored elsewhere while you are in hospital.

@Christol - Your character looks perfect

Thanks, Snuffy's profile has been updated. His Luger is hidden at the bottom of his backpack.

Doing a little tweaking, but will be done soon.

You've got plenty of time.

I'm directing a friend to this game as a potential participant, if you don't mind, Mr. GM, sir. She loves Cthulhu mythos stuff and I think she would be a great addition to the team.

Of course I don't mind. Perhaps she'd like to play a Belgian freedom fighter.

There isn't going to be any Lovecraft in this one, simply because I'm not well enough educated about it! Are you sure you're not referring to Aubster's Savage Worlds Recruitment Thread?

Oh, well, no harm done. She loves a good horror game as well. Maybe she'll join us. I sent her the link.

OK so we're now running close on time with only 2 players...

I am quite interested in the game, but it would probably take until wednesday to get a character up and running.

I am pretty open as to what sort of character I work up - If you have any preferences, let me know, otherwise I will come up with a concept by sunday.

I do have the required books, but my weird wars books resides with a friend atm.

I don't see why not. I'll push back the kickoff until the 2nd

Thank you!

No worries. 1 Benny says you get your profile done before Bilbo :-P

OK, concept first, I will get the stats done until wednesday (and flesh out the concept a bit more).

Professional:
- Andrew Hauser, 9th USAF, fighter pilot
- professional soldier, enlisted before the war started
- shot down during a 'second wave', got incredibly lucky to survive, trapped in the cockpit of his plane while the world around him was set ablaze by napalm
- managed to get field hospital (his language skills being an immense help) physically a bit mangled but mentally devastated

Personal:
- son of Wilhelm and Christine Hauser, German immigrants who came to the US during the Weimarer Hyperinflation, meeting up with a branch of the family that had come to the US much earlier
- his 'uncle', am member of said family branch and member of the OSS helped him stay in the military when the US joined the war against Germany
- US branch of the family kept contact to the german branch right until the start of the war, so Andrew is fluent in German and knows a bit of German culture

Just a minor nitpick, but it would be Andrew Hauser, 8th Air Force USAAF (United States Army Air Forces). The 8th Air Force provided support to the RAF in Europe, but was officially known as the United States Army Air Forces until 1947.

No offense intended to you; I served 7.5 years in the Air Force is all, and have a little knowledge of it's history. :)

No offense taken, I admit I didn't know, so I was relying on the Wiki-article that specifically mentioned the ninth airforce supporting the US troups at the Battle of Aachen. The second A was just a sacrifice to the smallgod of typos.

Please, feel free to correct history-slips I might commit during the game.

And so it goes. I stand corrected; 9th Air Force it shall be. I had forgotten that the 9th was moved to central Europe for support after Rommel withdrew from Africa.

All right, Feytharn!

Unfortunately, the real Army tears me away at times, lol.

One more ;-)

So how many do we have now and what MOSs?

There are 4 now:
1 Enginer
1 Infintry
1 Pilot
1 Civilian

but only 2 of these with a completed profile.

@feytharn - Do you have the WWII book? Do you need me to tell you the requirements etc of your pilot? Keep in mind that if you want fluent German you'll need to take Knowledge (German) D10 at least

I hope I will get it back tomorrow, if not, I can at least transcribe the necessary parts.

I'll throw it up here for you tonight

Sir...still shooting for October 2nd, sir? Snuffy snaps off a snazzy salute.

"That's right private!"

I haven't started with stat creation, yet, so the concept might need to be tweaked here and there to make a viable character, I mean, Sir!

You can use the testdrive rules to get most of your stats down:
www.peginc.com/freebies/SWcore/TD06.pdf‎

I'll post your requirements for a pilot in an hour or so. That way you can be 95% finished when you get to your books.

Sorry, no chance...I worked last night and am now up about 34 hours...even Savage Worlds is not that foolproof. I will see what I can do tomorrow ;-)

Hey no worries. Anyway here's your pilot's reqirements, kit, etc:

Attribute Requirements: Smarts D6, Agility D6
Skill Requirements: Notice, Piloting, Knowledge(Bombardier) for single seat aircraft, Knowledge (Navigation) for single seat aircraft, Repair, Shooting
Required Edges: Rank(NCO) (it also says officer but that won't fit with this campeign)
Gear: Leather Flight Helmet, Goggles, Oxygen mask, Spare uniform, flight jacket, boots/shoes, electrically heated suit, leather flight suit (jacket, pants), shoulder holster, life preserver, survival kit, knife, parachute, M1917 or Colt M1911A1

Do we establish up front that in ourWeird Wars earth there were Pilots that weren't officers, or should I rework my concept?

Air Force Pilots tend to act more like NCOs in my experience, lol. Very approachable.