Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Antarctic Space Nazis Across the Multiverse

Icelander · 01-25-2019, 09:11 AM

This thread is dedicated to those wacky Nazis and, in particular, Ken Hite's conception of the Antarctic Space Nazis as preferential villains in 'A Dish Best Served Cold: The Antarctic Space Nazis' Suppressed Transmission 1 p. 77-80, your basic go-anywhere, do-anything bad guys.

I encourage speculation about the likely future tech of any Antarctic (or Space or even Elsewhere) secret Last Redoubt and anything to do with Nazis across multiple campaign worlds. In particular, I'm interested in the dimension-traveling aspects inherent in 'go-anywhere, do-anything' villainy.

Reich 5 is the canonical answer for Infinite Worlds and I wouldn't want to discourage speculation about those guys, but for me personally, I'm not featuring a multiverse of mostly Alternate Earths traveled by technological means, I'm considering this in the context of a much more fantastic multiverse, a World Tree and various worlds which resemble mythological places more than different Earths.

For example, Faerie (or perhaps many Faerie worlds), the Dreamlands (or many dreamscapes), worlds containing Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, etc.

So, my Antarctic Space Nazis, at least as they exist as a thought experiment at this particular moment, haven't been in contact with any easily classifiable Alternate History Earths or even the Earth they came from, not since 1945. Instead, they've encountered Mythos-like Things, demons, fey creatures and a range of more-or-less mortal beings that are limited to TL3 or lower. They may have a genesis in my Götterdämmerung on Walpurgisnacht campaign, in fact.

What I'd like speculation on is if these wacky Nazis built a settlement intended to be the nucleus of a New Reich on an uninhabited (or at least relatively safe) world somewhere, with carefully chosen settlers mostly concentrated around a core of inner SS leadership and occultists, but with late war additions numbering around 40,000, how might their technology have progressed?

Wait, do Nazis really need more detail than the range penalty to shoot them?

Who are the Antarctic Space Nazis?
What did the ASN tell potential settlers?
Why leave and not use the World Tree and magic to win WWII on Earth?
See notes on ASN population in Year 1 (1945) and Year 51 here.
How settlement happened.
The magical demiplane of the ASN Last Redoubt.
Germania Hyperborea - Earth analogue?
ASN settlement, gates and native cultures.
How the ASNs managed to bring 30,000 short tons of supplies, mostly finished goods to bootstrap industry.
Some notes on natural resources in the ASN colonies.
More detail on natural resources needed for industry.
ASNs, allies, natives and gunpowder.
Important figures in ASN education and some dangerous countercultural ideas.
ASN education system and the secret of the Faustian bargain of the senior SS leadership.

The ASNs would seek to adopt the magic and mystic powers that existed in these other worlds, certainly. And they have important allies who teach them many things about magic and the supernatural. Hexensoldaten are a given.

On the other hand, the way I see it, early TL7 technology they possess is enough of a force multiplier over any conceivable foe for it to make sense to try to focus on building up infrastructure to make more of it, rather than try to invent entirely new things. Exceptions would be if fairly pragmatic adaptions to their existing gear would make it easier to mass-produce or more useful to them in their peculiar circumstances.

Obviously, I want to justify zeppelin scouting craft to explore new worlds, as many of them are very hostile and ground-based exploration would involve potentially getting bogged down in TL3 warfare which is a huge waste of time and resources. Best to fly over the primitives until a plan of conquest can be drawn up. I'm hoping that some plausible way for large-scale exploration with zeppelins rather than heavier-than-air aircraft can be found.

Without any numbers behind it, I feel that a LTA airship would be a better base for a long exploration mission on a world where no airfields or refined petroleum products could be found. If necessary, this might involve nuclear powered zeppelins, depending on how plausible it is that Nazi scientists might eventually invent nuclear reactors independently in their Last Redoubt.

Something that always matters a lot to PCs is armament. If the PCs were to run into Stormtroopers from a zeppelin exploration mission dispatched a couple of generations after these wacky Nazis escaped the destruction of the German Reich in 1945, would they still be using essentially identical weapons as in WWII, all the scientific and engineering budget having gone on surviving in new worlds and exploring them?

Remember, these Nazis would not have fought anyone with firearms in two generations. Being able to kill at range would obviously still be important to them and, indeed, if they are using zeppelins, it may be that 'typical' combat consists of something closer to sniping than anything else. Of course, they'd also have to land occasionally to prospect for resources, trade with locals, kidnap slaves, etc.

Indeed, slave labour would be a major thing for them, so anything that could be made by TL3 or lower people forced to labor in factories or sweatshops would probably be far cheaper than something requiring the time of a comparatively rare free citizen, educated in the full suite of TL7 skills. On the other hand, it may not be that difficult to teach TL3 people the extremely limited elements of one TL7 skill required to be a factory worker. They don't have to understand the principles, just repeat the motions. Anyone unusually smart, capable of learning full TL7, can rise to be a foreman or safety inspector, maybe even earn their freedom if they look sufficiently Aryan.

Advice on presenting a scouting group of these?

Sources I should look at?

Any obvious differences from WWII vintage load-outs I should make sure to emphasize?

Questions? Comments? Thoughts?

01-25-2019, 09:11 AM	#1
Icelander Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Iceland*	Antarctic Space Nazis Across the Multiverse This thread is dedicated to those wacky Nazis and, in particular, Ken Hite's conception of the Antarctic Space Nazis as preferential villains in 'A Dish Best Served Cold: The Antarctic Space Nazis' Suppressed Transmission 1 p. 77-80, your basic go-anywhere, do-anything bad guys. I encourage speculation about the likely future tech of any Antarctic (or Space or even Elsewhere) secret Last Redoubt and anything to do with Nazis across multiple campaign worlds. In particular, I'm interested in the dimension-traveling aspects inherent in 'go-anywhere, do-anything' villainy. Reich 5 is the canonical answer for Infinite Worlds and I wouldn't want to discourage speculation about those guys, but for me personally, I'm not featuring a multiverse of mostly Alternate Earths traveled by technological means, I'm considering this in the context of a much more fantastic multiverse, a World Tree and various worlds which resemble mythological places more than different Earths. For example, Faerie (or perhaps many Faerie worlds), the Dreamlands (or many dreamscapes), worlds containing Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, etc. So, my Antarctic Space Nazis, at least as they exist as a thought experiment at this particular moment, haven't been in contact with any easily classifiable Alternate History Earths or even the Earth they came from, not since 1945. Instead, they've encountered Mythos-like Things, demons, fey creatures and a range of more-or-less mortal beings that are limited to TL3 or lower. They may have a genesis in my Götterdämmerung on Walpurgisnacht campaign, in fact. What I'd like speculation on is if these wacky Nazis built a settlement intended to be the nucleus of a New Reich on an uninhabited (or at least relatively safe) world somewhere, with carefully chosen settlers mostly concentrated around a core of inner SS leadership and occultists, but with late war additions numbering around 40,000, how might their technology have progressed? Wait, do Nazis really need more detail than the range penalty to shoot them? Who are the Antarctic Space Nazis? What did the ASN tell potential settlers? Why leave and not use the World Tree and magic to win WWII on Earth? See notes on ASN population in Year 1 (1945) and Year 51 here. How settlement happened. The magical demiplane of the ASN Last Redoubt. Germania Hyperborea - Earth analogue? ASN settlement, gates and native cultures. How the ASNs managed to bring 30,000 short tons of supplies, mostly finished goods to bootstrap industry. Some notes on natural resources in the ASN colonies. More detail on natural resources needed for industry. ASNs, allies, natives and gunpowder. Important figures in ASN education and some dangerous countercultural ideas. ASN education system and the secret of the Faustian bargain of the senior SS leadership. The ASNs would seek to adopt the magic and mystic powers that existed in these other worlds, certainly. And they have important allies who teach them many things about magic and the supernatural. Hexensoldaten are a given. On the other hand, the way I see it, early TL7 technology they possess is enough of a force multiplier over any conceivable foe for it to make sense to try to focus on building up infrastructure to make more of it, rather than try to invent entirely new things. Exceptions would be if fairly pragmatic adaptions to their existing gear would make it easier to mass-produce or more useful to them in their peculiar circumstances. Obviously, I want to justify zeppelin scouting craft to explore new worlds, as many of them are very hostile and ground-based exploration would involve potentially getting bogged down in TL3 warfare which is a huge waste of time and resources. Best to fly over the primitives until a plan of conquest can be drawn up. I'm hoping that some plausible way for large-scale exploration with zeppelins rather than heavier-than-air aircraft can be found. Without any numbers behind it, I feel that a LTA airship would be a better base for a long exploration mission on a world where no airfields or refined petroleum products could be found. If necessary, this might involve nuclear powered zeppelins, depending on how plausible it is that Nazi scientists might eventually invent nuclear reactors independently in their Last Redoubt. Something that always matters a lot to PCs is armament. If the PCs were to run into Stormtroopers from a zeppelin exploration mission dispatched a couple of generations after these wacky Nazis escaped the destruction of the German Reich in 1945, would they still be using essentially identical weapons as in WWII, all the scientific and engineering budget having gone on surviving in new worlds and exploring them? Remember, these Nazis would not have fought anyone with firearms in two generations. Being able to kill at range would obviously still be important to them and, indeed, if they are using zeppelins, it may be that 'typical' combat consists of something closer to sniping than anything else. Of course, they'd also have to land occasionally to prospect for resources, trade with locals, kidnap slaves, etc. Indeed, slave labour would be a major thing for them, so anything that could be made by TL3 or lower people forced to labor in factories or sweatshops would probably be far cheaper than something requiring the time of a comparatively rare free citizen, educated in the full suite of TL7 skills. On the other hand, it may not be that difficult to teach TL3 people the extremely limited elements of one TL7 skill required to be a factory worker. They don't have to understand the principles, just repeat the motions. Anyone unusually smart, capable of learning full TL7, can rise to be a foreman or safety inspector, maybe even earn their freedom if they look sufficiently Aryan. Advice on presenting a scouting group of these? Sources I should look at? Any obvious differences from WWII vintage load-outs I should make sure to emphasize? Questions? Comments? Thoughts? __________________ Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela! Last edited by Icelander; 02-13-2019 at 11:31 AM.