GURPS Canadian Adventures

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Bruno

The Halifax Harbour Explosion (largest non-nuclear explosion ever).

The Oka Crisis

I considered the Harbour explosion but was foggy about what the characters would actually do with it.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

I considered the Harbour explosion but was foggy about what the characters would actually do with it.

Setting it up or stopping it without informing mundanes for a secret Cabal game, maybe?

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

I considered the Harbour explosion but was foggy about what the characters would actually do with it.

Given the number of novels written about it, probably quite a bit. Seach-and-rescue comes to mind, and then there's investigating the conspiracy theories about how it all happened . . .

[Kallatari]

- The forced relocation of Inuit in Quebec to the High Arctic in the 1950s. Apparently it was for their own good. Skeptics claim it was really for Canadian sovereignty purposes. But what was really involved in moving 98 people?

- The same nefarious purposes are obviously still underway today in the much talked-about battle for Hans Island. A 1.3 square kilometer rock in the Arctic. Why is that one rock really worth an international scene?

[swampthing]

What, no Seven Years' War (that's the French and Indian War to folks from the USA)? Did I miss it?

I would have thought that the war that lost Canada for the French would be kind of a big thing.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Johan Larson

Maybe it was the runaway success of GURPS Munchkin, or an exciting game by the Dallas Stars, or a not-quite-right plate of pancakes with maple syrup, but there is no denying Steve Jackson fell for all things Canadian in a big way.

And being the game-company head honcho that he is, Steve immediately set aside his Cuban and called his number three guy, Sean Punch the unrepentant Canadian. He(Steve) told him(Sean) to put into production a twenty-four-part series of GURPS supplements covering all the most exciting incidents of Canadian history.

The dear Mr. Punch, hardly believing his fortune (and observing that food is more easily obtained with money) agreed immediately. Yet he quickly found himself in a conundrum: what were the twenty-four most exciting (and gameable) events in Canadian history?

Both Canada and the USA need a series of PDFs covering their history and folklore for the use of Gamers. Canadian history is really hard to find down here in the states, and the supernaturally intense modesty of our lovely Northern neighbors does help with the fact supply.(sigh)

[robkelk]

Some pop-history links that may be of interest here:

The Halifax Explosion
The Riel Rebellion
Avro Arrow - Possibly the best fighter jet in the world at the time... and the project was canceled in favour of buying a US import. Yes, some of us are still bitter about this, and not just because the program cancellation caused a lot of our best and brightest to go work for NASA instead of staying in Canada.
Viking settlement in Labrador (not one of this project's better videos, alas)

Just what was it about that one neighbourhood in Winnipeg, that it produced these people? (I remember this one got a lot of play every November...)

Did you know the Cold War started in Ottawa? Well, at least the Cold War became public in Ottawa first...

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by swampthing

What, no Seven Years' War (that's the French and Indian War to folks from the USA)? Did I miss it?

I would have thought that the war that lost Canada for the French would be kind of a big thing.

History is written by the victors... although everyone up here remembers the Plains of Abraham.

[David Johansen]

Vimy Ridge in WWI. The first time four Canadian batallions fought together as a national force.

You could do a nineteen nineties secret war scenario in which Alberta secessionists attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The only down side is it probably works out as one of those campaigns where the uber NPC takes the glory when he strangles the assassin with his bare hands.

It could run the other way but it would end with Ralph Klien drinking the assassin under the table and dumping him without ID or money at a homeless shelter.

Really those two should have gotten out of politics and gone to the states as a comedy duo. They always played off each other really well.

[Bruno]

I gotta say, the Chretiens were the most badass Prime Minister and First Lady pair we've had for a long time.

For the benefit of the Americans, Chretien had a bit of a "street" background in his youth, and it still showed when he was in power:
When a protester broke through the security detail around the PM and ran right up to him, Chretien got him by the throat and threw him down before the security guys could react. (We still make jokes that the security detail was to protect violent protesters and would-be assailants from the PM).

The other famous incident in the same vein was that time when a burglar managed to (again) make it past all the security and break into the PMs residence at night. Mrs. Chretien ran into him, and brained him with a soapstone statue they'd received as a political gift.