GURPS WWII: Their Finest Hour

[johndallman]

How did the structure of your scenarios generally go? As counter-intelligence, ours tend to be heavy on investigation and light on combat. Combat is generally pretty brief when it happens.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by johndallman

How did the structure of your scenarios generally go? As counter-intelligence, ours tend to be heavy on investigation and light on combat. Combat is generally pretty brief when it happens.

We had that sort of thing, yes, and it was reasonably common. But as mentioned, we had air battles, generally at the margin of larger air engagements, where the Germans were testing some supernatural or supernatural-boosted air capability; these were the main fare.
We also had an attack by an enemy team on the party's home base.
We had a search and destroy scenario where the PCs had to comb Biggin Hill for a magically invisible mischief maker who was sabotaging the operations.
We had a commando operation to gather intel from, and disable, the Freya radar station on Cap Gris Nez, and since the Commandos did not give it enough priority, the RAF decided to send its own men, supported by some mundane squads of the RAF Regiment.
And we had side scenarios where the "Special Office of the Special Branch" asked the RAF for help in dealing with supernatural threats which had to do with the war only tangentially.

[smurf]

Weirdest thing is a Harley in the UK... a Norton maybe but hey.

I use 'vampires' in my supers but they are like super soldiers but have none of the negative 'classic traits'. They Regen with blood sucking.

In a fantasy/steam punk, years ago, I did werewolves but just had people dressed in Wolfskins, terriffied the group they thought had to go toe to toe with a unit of Werewolves.

I think getting rid some of the classic schticks (silver etc), grenade will kill werewolf. Apparently 'fire' causes lasting damage, so explosions and burning hot metal will do damage too. Sort of attach grenade collar to werewolf and bad doggy will go boom.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by smurf

Weirdest thing is a Harley in the UK... a Norton maybe but hey.

A late uncle of mine who'd been in the RAF in Africa in WWII once commented (in the '70s) that the place was probably by then full of American-built Indian bikes quietly rusting away. Apparently, a few ended up out there for some reason. But the UK, in 1938? Hardly likely, I'd think. My father, who was the motorbike devotee of the family, could talk your ear off about UK models, but never mentioned American-built things that I remember. By British standards, they wouldn't go round corners. Which kind of matters in Britain, especially before the creation of the motorway network. Bit thirsty in a time of fuel rationing, too.

Nortons, Triumphs, beezers, a dozen now-forgotten marques... But a Harley would just look weird.

(Not much better today, actually. Even the mid-life-crisis buyers might be aware of the Hardly-Gettingsome nickname.)

[Michele]

You are right, of course. But I really don't remember why that specific model was chosen - though I know the player is a motorcycle fan. I asked him; he doesn't remember either, though he says that he's always dreamed of owning a Harley (he gets by with a Japanese model).
My best guess is that we had GURPS WWII: Motor Pool at hand when he created the character. The motorbike it offers is a Harley-Davidson, and probably the player wanted just that, even though the write-up specifies that with those stats, one could have... a Norton, a 633 Big Four.
Maybe I suggested that replacement, but the player insisted on the HD.

That motorcyle played a remarkable part in a couple of adventures, in particular in a memorable chase scene.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Michele

That motorcyle played a remarkable part in a couple of adventures, in particular in a memorable chase scene.

I now have hideous visions of a chase scene involving a 1938 Harley on British rural lanes. At least it wouldn't last long.

(Edit: Okay, you might get away with it somewhere like East Anglia. Though there were probably a few more hedges and banks to contend with back then, and bends aren't entirely unknown even there.)

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

I now have hideous visions of a chase scene involving a 1938 Harley on British rural lanes. At least it wouldn't last long.

(Edit: Okay, you might get away with it somewhere like East Anglia. Though there were probably a few more hedges and banks to contend with back then, and bends aren't entirely unknown even there.)

It was quite hair-raising (but that's appropriate for a chase, I'd say) in that it was through the blacked-out streets of London at night. Now, of course there were in 1940 (and there still are) medieval-style narrow and winding alleys, but they just didn't go in there.
Sergeant Evans was fleeing (with another character, I forget which one, on the back seat), and maybe he thought high speed would help them more than trying to lose their tail in a maze of alleys.

The chase ended when Evans managed to see and bypass a wide bomb crater, while the pursuing car did not.
Things that just happen:

Oops...

[smurf]

I still have problems of seeing the UK without motorways. The A roads were fairly straight but some built on old Roman roads were ok. The A4 from London to Bristol, you will have a village almost every 25miles (40km), so that would slow you down as you have to wind your way through them (no such thing as by passes back then). The longest is the A38 from Exeter to way past Birmingham (via Bristol). Also the A1 would take you north from London.

Another thing is to look at the old railway network before Beeching.

It would be quicker to go by Train, not forgetting fun fair dodging too :)

[Michele]

ROBERT SIMMONS
Home Guard Volunteer and “Super Normal”

(c) copyright 2011 Michele Armellini

Base Setting: GURPS WWII: Weird War II, GURPS WWII: Their Finest Hour

Total Points: 300

Age: 44 Height: 6'2" Weight: 235 lbs. Description: an imposing, broad-shouldered man with light brown hair, a deeply tanned skin, and small wrinkles around his eyes

ST 14 [40] HP 14 [0]
DX 13 [60] Will 13 [0]
IQ 13 [60] Per 15 [10]
HT 12 [20] FP 12 [0]

Basic Speed: 6.25 Move: 6
Basic Damage: Thrust 1d, Swing 2d
Basic Lift: 39
[Total Attributes: 190]

DR: 0 Dodge: 10(*) Parry: 10 (Brawling, *) Block: 0

(*: including +1 from Combat Reflexes)

ADVANTAGES AND PERKS: Absolute Direction [5]; Acute Vision 1 [2]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Danger Sense [15]; Fit [5]; Gunslinger [25]; Hard to Kill 2 [4]; Indomitable [15]; Military Rank 0 (Home Guard Volunteer) [0]; Outdoorsman 1 [10]; Reputation 3 (Great White Hunter, Hunting Circles, on 10 or less) [2]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10].
Robust Vision [1]; Weapon Bond (H&H Royal Double Express .600 NE) [1].
[Total Advantages and Perks: 109]

DISADVANTAGES AND QUIRKS: Bloodlust (on 15 or less) [-5]; Curious (on 12 or less) [-5]; Dependent (Young Nephew, Loved One, on 6 or less) [-10]; Disciplines of Faith (Ritualism) [-5]; Duty (Home Guard, on 12 or less) [-10]; Loner (on 12 or less) [-5]; Secret (Utter Rejection) [-10]; Sense of Duty (British Commonwealth and Empire) [-10].
Code of Honor (Hunter) [-1]; Dislikes Cities and City Life [-1]; Horrible Hangovers [-1]; Longs for Africa [-1].
[Total Disadvantages and Quirks: -64]

SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES: Animal Handling (Big Herbivores)-12 [1]; Area Knowledge (Kenya)-13 [1]; Armoury/TL6 (Small Arms)-14 [4]; Brawling-13 [1]; Camouflage-14 [1*]; Driving/TL6 (Automobile)-12 [1]; Farming/TL6-12 [1]; Fast-Draw/TL6 (Ammo)-14 [1**]; Fishing-16 [1*]; Guns/TL6 (Rifle)-18 [16]; Guns/TL6 (Shotgun) DX/E - DX+3 16 [1 - starting from default from (Rifle)]; Hiking-11 [1]; Mimicry (Animal Sounds)-12 [1*]; Naturalist (Earth)-13 [2*]; Navigation/TL6 (Land)-16 [1*,***]; Observation-15 [2]; Savoir-Faire (Military)-13 [1]; Scrounging-15 [1]; Soldier/TL6-12 [1]; Stealth-15 [8]; Survival (Plains)-15 [1*]; Swimming-12 [1]; Tactics-11 [1]; Throwing-12 [1]; Tracking-17 [4*]; Traps/TL6-14 [4].
Precision Aiming-15 [3].

(*) Includes +1 from Outdoorsman.
(**) Includes +1 from Combat Reflexes.
(***) Includes +3 from Absolute Direction.
[Total Skills and Techniques: 63]

TL: 6 Cultural Familiarities: Western [0].
LANGUAGES: English (native) [0]; Kiswahili (spoken, accented) [2].
[Total Cultural Familiarities and Languages: 2]

[Michele]

BACKGROUND:
Robert Simmons was born in Kenya in 1896, the son of a plantation manager who loved to hunt. He received his first air gun when he was seven, and was reared with tales about the Tsavo man-eaters and Frederick Burnham. He always knew what he wanted to do in his life.
His first visit to Europe was not pleasurable; after the Battle of the Somme, he felt he had to volunteer for fighting there, since what was taking place in East Africa was a half-hearted guerrilla. In the trenches, he learned to shoot men with detachment, and became a feared sniper.
He was happy to return to Kenya in 1919. He quickly became a safari guide and a renowned “great white hunter”. Incredibly gifted for this kind of vocation to start with, he refined his skills, but also his less explainable capabilitites, through a lifetime of dedication. He became a rifle Gunslinger, and somehow he always sensed threats that even his native trackers didn’t notice. He could have lived on in Kenya happily ever after.
In 1936, however, a tragic accident took place. His wife Sarah, whom he had just married, died during a safari. There were several concomitant causes for her death; a highly unusual behavior by a lion, a freak weather change – and a small mistake by the great white hunter. This is a Secret for everybody by now, even though the participants to that safari could still let it out.
Robert stopped working and began to drink himself to death. He would have soon succeded, were it not for the fact that a second family tragedy hit him: his sister, back in England, disappeared. She left her only child, Robert’s nephew, with no other close relative but Robert. Safaris had lost all appeal for him. He simply sold his possessions, including his trophies but not his preferred rifle, and left Africa for the second time.
James was a difficult boy, suddenly orphaned, and Robert decided he could not leave him in the care of some distant old grand-aunt. He managed to stop drinking, and began taking care of both the boy and the run-down farm on the edge of the Romney Marshes.
By now, Robert has built himself a new life. The nightmares about his wife’s death have disappeared, and he resists the temptation of whiskey thanks to three things: the sense of responsibility towards Jim, long walks through the marshes, and doing everything according to his “programme”: in practice, a lay ritualistic form of Disciplines of Faith that provides sets of stereotyped actions for anything he does.
He even began hunting again, which brought about the strange accident of the “big wild dog”, as it is called in the pubs in this area. This was a large predator that massacred cattle for months; but when several persons disappeared, and two were found dismembered, Robert wondered about his sister’s disappearance. When volunteers were solicited, he joined the hunting, at first with a .30-06 rifle; when two hunters reported having hit the animal without putting him down, he switched to his faithful custom-made elephant gun. A long-time loner, he did not join the hunting parties, but word had it that the old great white hunter would be the one dispatching the wild dog.
That’s probably why one evening, Mr. Merriman of the Special Branch showed up at his door, and asked him to “test”, on behalf of his department, some “new ammunition”. The agent even knew he needed .600 NE rounds. And that was the ammo with which Robert put the fearsome animal down, on a full moon night. More than a big wild dog, the beast seemed a gigantic wolf, but Robert was unable to examine it because the agent suddenly appeared from nowhere, with helpers, thanked him, and whisked the body away. Later, Robert studied the ammunition, and discovered it was silver-tipped. And when he called the Special Branch to ask a question or two, he discovered they had no agent called Merriman.
By now, Robert has connected the dots of this weird episode with what he had seen back in the Kenyan highlands: things that other whites would have called “African superstition”, but that looked pretty effective to him. He has concluded that in this world, there is more than meets the eye.
It’s now 1940, and the hunter is in a quandary. He sees that the British Commonwealth is in peril. While he’s aware that he’s no longer a young man, and that he’s a bit rusty both because of lack of exercise and because of the edge he lost to alcohol, he knows he could still give a lot to the Army. On the other hand, Jim is 16, and he believes the boy still needs a steady hand. They sometimes clash, but they respect each other. If Robert volunteered, he would be unable to look after the boy.
So Robert compromised by joining the Home Guard. He doesn’t think much of that training, and indeed he did not learn some of the skills of an ordinary volunteer. He doesn’t show off with the other volunteers, and they think he’s another comfortable farmer who happens to be a good shot with his hunting rifle, but somewhat lacking in teamwork. On the other hand, the Romney Marshes are close to the Channel coast, and if the Germans do come, Robert plans to be ready for them.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Robert owns a custom-made H&H Royal Double Express rifle, a gun with which he felled many elephants and rhinos. He has a 4x scope for it; this is the gun he has a Weapon Bond with. He also has several other guns, including a Winchester Model 70 (that’s the .30-06 rifle mentioned above), a Greener 12g shotgun, and an old .476 Enfield revolver. He owns an old, small Bedford lorry he uses for the farm.

CANONICALITY:
Robert Simmons is designed on the basis of the British Home Guard Volunteer template found on p. 43, GURPS WWII: Their Finest Hour, with the necessary adjustments for the Fourth Edition. He lacks some of the (few) skills that members would probably have learned by the summer of 1940.

GM’S NOTES
This is as powerful as a character can get without clearly supernatural Advantages (though his Danger Sense isn’t fully explained). This is what the player wanted, a “super normal” who could anyway have a go against low-power supervillains and monsters. Unsurprisingly, he would become the group’s scout and sniper.