IW: Parachronic Nazis Must Die (need help)

[Martichoras]

I am trying to put together a con module pitting Infinity against SS Raven Division and evil Templars on Friedrich, possibly spilling onto Nostradamus.

It strikes me as a good setting to show off GURPS and Infinite Worlds, because many con-goers will know and like the tropes.

However, I have neither the time nor the inclination to stat things out anymore, and my efforts at googling has turned up surprisingly little on the Infinite Worlds Nazi menace. Has anyone statted out anything? Even a NPC type stat block for the IW SS template would be helpful.

My current pitch, for what it is worth:

'“Friedrich, a world where Barbarossa never died, and his son reigns over a great German-Roman Empire. Unfortunately, the Chronobahn passes through this world, running from the Cilician Gates and almost to the Black Sea. Hence it is currently being rapidly being taken over by the SS Raven Division from Reich-5, where The Third Reich never fell, and instead is reaching for the stars. The SS have already killed Genghis Khan, and (through biowarfare) the Mongol people for good measure. They must be stopped, or at least halted! Your team must spearhead this effort, sabotage their efforts and enable the locals to fight back! However, be careful: If the Nazis get their hands on a functional parachronic conveyor, the Nazi menace will soon be growing exponentially!” (I know, too many exclamation marks)

This module draws extensively on GURPS Infinite Worlds, particularly the parts on Friedrich (p. 124) and Reich-5 (p. 57-67).'

I am tossing around different ideas for the main plot, ranging from bolstering local resistance, through striking at the SS recruitment camp at the Cilician Gates, to keeping the Ark of the Holy Covenant out of Nazi hands...

[Jürgen Hubert]

No stats yet (though I think someone really should submit a few generic Nazi template to the Monsters page of the GURPS Repository). However, a plot idea:

Friedrich is a "normal mana" world - which makes it great for recruiting sorcerers for the Reich (Reich-5 is probably a "no mana" world). Very likely the Nazis have begun to cast the "Aura" spell in large numbers on young locals in order to determine who has Magical Aptitude. And thanks to their contacts in Merlin, they will also have TL8 teaching materials on magical theory. Thus, a typical mission could revolve learning that there is a Wizard School for Young Nazis, finding its location (it will probably be fairly remote), killing all the teachers, and then figuring out what to do with all the kids with Magical Aptitude who may or may not have been indoctrinated into Nazism.

[ericthered]

I have actually been working with a similar idea (an IW one shot) -- my thought was the bad guys had already captured a conveyor, and the PC's are trying to retrieve it (and hopefully its crew). The trick here is that while my foes are leaving it intact and trying to torture the captured crew into telling them how it works, the ss would probably be more concerned about carting it home.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

Friedrich is a "normal mana" world - which makes it great for recruiting sorcerers for the Reich (Reich-5 is probably a "no mana" world).

I have looked very hard and not found a canonical statement of Reich-5's mana level but I do n believe it can be No Mana.

The Armanen order in SS Burgundy is practicing a sort of Rune Magic. Probably the same as outlined in Weird War II. This is discussed on p.66. While they captured a demon on Friedrich they brought it back to Reich-5 and imprisoned it there.

I can't say standard magic works there but at least some form of mana seems indicated.

[Gedrin]

I'd bet on No Mana with "Places of Power" at Low to Normal Mana. It might even be that one of the differences in the Nazi success was that their weirder projects managed to find those places where they didn't exist at all on RL Earth.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Good point - I had missed the runes. Since the word "demon" was put into question marks, I had thought it to be a mana-independent parachronic oddity.

But Reich-5 is probably low mana at best, or else the Nazis would make a lot more use of magic. And the Armanen Orden can't really go around casting the Aura spell on German youths in that world without raising a lot of eyebrows... which would be fatal.


Also, someone has submitted a Gestapo Agent to the GURPS Repository! I hope that helps.

[Martichoras]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback and plot ideas!

A pity that the net is devoid of GURPS nazi stats, that means I will have to do a lot of number-crunching/punching that I am not motivated for. If I finish it, I will try to upload it to the repository.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Martichoras

A pity that the net is devoid of GURPS nazi stats, that means I will have to do a lot of number-crunching/punching that I am not motivated for. If I finish it, I will try to upload it to the repository.

I'm a bit confused. The Reich-5 templates on pages 193-5 of Infinite Worlds can be used directly as characters. Does that help at all?

[adm]

They would need to be converted to 4E stats, but the GURPS WWII series should be a good starting place. The base book, and Iron Cross would cover most of what you need. Weird War II has some interesting back ground information on the SS, and Hand of Steel has special forces information.

[ericthered]

The internet may have a dearth of such stats because there are books on the subject that have suitable templates.