A Brief Introduction to Geheimkrieg
This article contains content for Geheimkrieg, Nevermet Press’ alternate World War II pulp setting. Our content is community driven so we want feedback from you. Please leave a comment here, write about it on your own blog, or contact the Lead Designer, Michael Brewer, if you would like to contribute directly.
Edited by Cassey Toi
“Jesus Christ! What kind of sick fuck did that?” I spit the words past teeth clenched on one end of the tourniquet I’m applying to my shredded left arm. My forearm looked like hamburger and my blood was flowing freely. It would heal soon enough on its own, but I still wasn’t used to my new regenerative abilities.
Tying off the compression wrap, I kneel down to inspect the carcass of the hideous creature that had caused my injury. “Lieutenant, this is definitely the work of Fremder,” Zora informed me. Zora Skerrit was a biologist attached to my unit by the OSS. Her Slavic accent was more pronounced when she was frightened. “The mutations resemble similar specimens found in a laboratory in Argentina we believe he was operating. It also shares traits with the Parisian Marauders.”
Parisian Marauder MKII by Rob Torno
The creature was once human, or rather, several humans. It had been hanging from the ceiling in the passageway of the underground bunker we were searching, when it surprised us and pounced on me. It was disgusting. It scampered around on six arms… where six hands used to have fingers and thumbs, there were four razor sharp talons.
The arms were elongated, with an extra segment, effectively giving each arm two elbows. These arms protruded from three torsos conjoined at the waist, almost as if their flesh has been kneaded together like clay. The creature had obviously been formed out of two men and one woman. The mutant has no legs, but the other end of each torso terminates with a head in which resides a giant, impossibly large, needle-toothed maw. Each head sits atop a long rubbery neck.
One of those maws had minced my left forearm before my team had been able to react. It had continued to chew on my arm even after Sergeant Burgess had lit the other two heads on fire with his pyrokinetic blasts. I had to resort to my trusty sidearm to spray the mutant’s grey matter on the wall. Burgess’ fire did nothing to improve the smell of the beast either.
“Nazi bastards must have realized they were wasting a precious commodity by killing Jews and instead decided to turn them into beasts of war,” Private Jasinski, our scout, muttered as he turned over an arm with several digits tattooed along the forearm.
“We’re burnin’ daylight kids,” said Burgess. “Let’s get the shit we came for so we can get the hell out of here.”
I looked down at my arm, the wounds had already closed. I untied the tourniquet and used it to mop up the blood which was the only trace that an injury had ever occurred. I threw the blood soaked compression wrap onto the floor beside the mutant and nodded my head in agreement with Burgess, “You’re right, Sergeant. Men, check your weapons then move out. Continue down the corridor, don’t bunch up. Maintain a five yard distance with the man in front of you.”
Jasinski turned to me and said, “You know sir, you shouldn’t waste our medical supplies, some of us don’t recover from injuries as well as you do.”
I looked up at Jasinski, “I tend to forget I’m so resilient when my arm’s being chewed on by a mutant monster. Jasinski, I want you to take point.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Jasinski responded as his form faded from sight. I couldn’t even hear the footfalls of combat boots as he moved ahead of the unit to keep anymore mutant nasties from surprising us. Privates Marcone and Campbell ensured their Thompsons were good to go before stepping off down the corridor at a brisk, but cautious pace. Zora and I followed while Burgess brought up the rear.
It’s early September, 1945, though I can’t quite remember the exact date; the days all run together after a while. We’ve been tracking and eliminating German insurgents that had been wreaking havoc behind the Paris front-lines for the past month. The local units had dubbed them the Parisian Marauders. Only these insurgents were not your average krauts; they were mutant terrors very similar to the beast we just put down. Except the ones tearing apart GIs in Paris were still single monstrosities instead of the macabre amalgamation we just encountered.
My squad is a special team of commandos assembled by the O.S.S., the Office of Strategic Services. Each of us had a unique gift that set us apart from regulars, even other highly trained commandos. Though people like us were becoming popularized on radio programs, newspapers, and even on the silver screen, I suspect people possessing powers beyond the capabilities of average humans have always existed. It sort of lends new credence to Greek myths like Hercules or even more recent legends and folktales like John Henry. Only, modern marvels like the television are making the world a smaller place along with radio and telephones. So information travels faster and is becoming easier to validate.
The governments of the world mostly ignored Extraordinaries, the label the papers have officially pinned on them, or treated them as threats. Them. I guess I mean us. Well, at least until the Great War. That’s when they began instituting programs to recruit them for use in clandestine missions. But they found it difficult to command what amounted to a bunch of hot shots with powers beyond the government’s limited imagination. So they turned to programs to develop Extraordinaries in-house, so to speak. Most of those programs failed too; Jasinski being one of a handful of recent successes from some project called Wraith. The rest of us were born Extraordinary or, like myself, gained that status through mishap.
I see Pvt. Jasinski’s form waver as if looking at a mirage as he and his equipment turns invisible so he can scout ahead of the squad. Hopefully we can secure this bunker without anymore surprises and shut down Fremder and his vile operation before anyone else falls victim to his experiments. I hear our boys in white lab coats back stateside are real close to finishing some super weapon to end this war; it could not end soon enough.
The D-Day invasion of Normandy by the Allies was not as successful as they had hoped. They had surprised the Germans, but Hitler’s war machine quickly recovered. The Allies were able to strike into Paris before the Wehrmacht was able to counter attack. The city is currently under the control of the Allies, but has switched hands twice since Operation Overlord. The war effort has devoured the resources of both the Allies and Axis in Europe which has resulted in what amounts to be a stalemate in the European theater. Hot spots still flare up along the front lines as the Axis and Allied powers test defenses, new tactics, and technologies.
America is still fighting a war of attrition in the Pacific and the atomic weapons that could end it have yet to be deployed. The Manhattan Project, which was tasked with creating the first functioning atomic bombs, has suffered several major setbacks from Axis agents who sabotaged their plutonium enrichment program. The African theater was secured as planned, but the Germans are using guerrilla warfare tactics against the occupying Allies in Egypt and proving difficult to root out.
The Soviets were routed during the German offensive of Operation Barbarossa. The winter was not as harsh as normal, and there are some intelligence reports that indicate some sort of Italian weather device guaranteed the Axis victory against the unprepared Red Army. The remnants of the Soviet military withdrew into the harsh expanse of Siberia after the destruction of Moscow, but have recently made contact with Allies and are planning a massive counter offensive against the Eastern Front of the Third Reich.
But this war is far from conventional.
As the second World War trudges on, both the Allied and Axis powers begin to look for alternative resources to secure the final victory. Thus the Secret War, the Geheimkrieg has begun. UFOs have begun supplementing the Luftwaffe over Parisian skies. Dead soldiers are rising to eat their comrades. Strange electrical storms roll out from Siberia. Extraordinary people begin to make their presence known and are answering the call to arms. Become a part of Geheimkrieg and stop the Nazis and their evil agenda.
M&M Superlink
M&M Superlink
Earlier this week, we received communication from the Mutants & Masterminds Line Developer, Jon Leitheusser, that our M&M Superlink license query for the Geheimkrieg setting had conceptual approval.
This is great news as it means we are free to move forward on development of Geheimkrieg. Of course, all material is still subject to final approval prior to release by Green Ronin, but I’m confident we’ll be able to meet expectations.
As always, our patrons will be able to read most of the non-mechanics here on the NMP blog before everything is composed along with their mechanics and published in book form. In fact, return here tomorrow to read some fiction that introduces a little of the alternate WWII history of Geheimkrieg.
Geheimkrieg – Design Choices
At the beginning of the year, Jonathan and I saw how much steam Nevermet had lost during the holidays so we brainstormed some ideas on how to feed the boiler so to speak. We concluded that first, the owners (Jonathan and I) needed to be excited and totally invested in whatever project(s) we undertook. Jonathan’s pet project became the Loaerth & Feywyrd setting and I had something dark & gritty in mind dealing with WWII.
This article is a look at how my own project, Geheimkrieg (my apologies to any native German speakers for slaughtering the language), a pulpy World War II supers setting (yeah, it’s a mouthful). It is meant to give a peek into why I made the design choices I did.
Those that really know me understand that besides gaming, I have also have a deep seated fascination with horror. I like some of the new stuff, but really love classic Universal Monsters, Hammer Horror, and pretty much everything from the 80s. My fascination has carried over into gaming; I have an extensive Ravenloft collection and absolutely love the World of Darkness (both versions). So, I decided my project definitely needed a large dose of the horrific.
I also wanted to break away from the fantasy scene, yet wanted something familiar where I needn’t create a whole world from cloth (and perhaps allow the game material to be used in established games). I was tired of dwarves, elves, gnomes. Well, it just so happened that I was watching a movie that involved Nazi zombies and the deal was sealed; I wanted an alternate history WWII setting.
When it came to selecting the rules that I would support with my project, I found that I really only wanted to use one system, Mutants & Masterminds. M&M, to me, is probably the pinnacle of what was done with d20 game design. It’s sleek, sexy, and point buy. Oh, and it uses a core mechanic most every roleplaying gamer knows. This reminds me, I need to send an email to the M&M Superlink crew to get approval before we publish any mechanics.
Anyways, I looked at all my design choices: a horrific, alternate history WWII setting that used the Mutants & Masterminds setting. The first thing that occurred to me was that it sounded very similar to the Weird Wars setting by Pinnacle Entertainment Group (publisher of Savage Worlds). It also sounded very niche (within a niche, within a niche). So I opened up the audience a little by deciding the setting would be more pulpy (though there is still plenty of room for horror in pulp) and maybe it could be beneficial to support Savage Worlds, too.
There are a lot more details for the Geheimkrieg project, much of which plays out on the NMP content developer mailing list. We’re looking at a cold war scenario where the Germans were never defeated, as well as pre-war ideas. We have aliens, Oriental magic, artifacts, Tesla Death Rays, and many other ideas brewing, so be on the lookout for future Geheimkrieg content.
I stuck with much of my preliminary design decisions simply because that is what I want to create. If I can get a few content developers, mutants, or masterminds interested too, then it’s a win.
MB!
Encounter: Le Danse Périlleux
The Masquerade Ball, by Matthew Lichtenwalner
Written by Michael Brewer
Illustrated by Matthew Lichtenwalner
Difficulty: Medium
Magic: Medium
Keywords: ball, disguised, hostages, masquerade
Terrain: Interior – Ballroom
Treasure: Minor
A grand ballroom packed with revelers dressed to the nines stretches out below the balcony. Two sweeping sets of stairs extend from the sides of the balcony to the floor of a ballroom large enough to dock a small ship. The marble arches supporting ceiling of this massive hall reach skyward another story above the balcony
Exquisite tapestries that depict debauch revelries line the interiors of several alcoves along the length of the walls leading to the magnificent view at the end of the ballroom. Five huge chandeliers of polished bronze hang suspended above the ballroom by chains anchored along the western wall between the alcoves. Four tables laden with refreshments and hors d’oeuvres have been set near the foot of the stairs.
The far end of the ballroom terminates in a half circle enclosed in a wall of glass; dozens of large windows honeycomb the exterior wall at the end of the hall giving guests a magnificent view of the city below from the room’s precarious perch upon the cliff.
Background
The ballroom is 60 feet wide and 100 feet in length and is part of a larger estate built by the prostitution and brothel madam known as The Desire from decades worth of extortion and exploitation. Desirae Turpis is the madam’s birth name and most people believe her to just be a wealthy heiress. The ballroom extends out from the chateau proper along a narrow cliff that juts perilously away from the bluff the chateau is built upon.
This masquerade is being held in celebration of some minor stellar event and is hosted by The Desire. These balls are the current rage among the aristocracy and the majority of them have turned out for the occasion. No doubt many discrete (and indiscreet) trysts will be taking place either by direction of The Desire or just out of naturally occurring lust.
The Desire has ulterior motives for holding the ball. One objective is to grow the network of aristocrats that have fallen victim to her schemes, but an even more sinister object is at hand: assassination. The Desire brokered a deal between a local lord and the assassin guild to have a rival nobleman eliminated. Since this rival nobleman has also interfered with her prostitution operations, it serves The Desire’s interests as well.
The PCs have been tipped off that there will be an assassination attempt, but do not know who the target is or who the assassins are (or how many there may be). Even if they did, the costumes would hinder their ability to identify either party involved.
Objective
The PCs must prevent the assassination and capture at least one of the assailants for questioning.
Adversaries & Tactics
Assassins
Number: 4-8
Equipment: Light Crossbows, Short Swords, & Poisoned Daggers
Attributes: Stealthy, Dexterous, Quick
- There are four to eight (depending on how difficult the Game Master wishes to make this encounter) assassins disguised as revelers at the ball. They are spread throughout the ballroom, but there is only one tasked with the duty to murder the nobleman. The remaining assassins are for support.
- Once the PCs engage the first assassin, three more close and flank. If the Game Master has chosen to insert additional assassins, they are on the balcony and begin peppering the PCs with light crossbow bolts. Once combat has begun, the guests begin to panic, scream, run and general chaos ensues. The assassins will attempt to use guests as cover and may take one or two hostage using them as human shields.
- If a PC is injured with a poisoned dagger and fails to defend against the poison, he is immediately weakened and will die within 24 hours if the antidote is not administered. Retrieving the antidote should provide the PCs with another short quest. Once half of the assassins are neutralized, the remaining antagonists escape by pretending to be terrified guests and fleeing with the other revelers towards the city.
Environmental Effects
- Chandeliers: There are five chandeliers hanging above the ballroom. Creative PCs may be able to maneuver their enemies below the chandeliers and have one of the characters release the anchors sending one crashing down upon the assassins. If the assassins fail to react quickly, the chandelier knocks them unconscious and pins them to the floor. A chandelier is large enough to pin four assassins standing in tight formation. An extremely agile and creative PC may be able to use the chain anchoring the chandelier closest to the balcony to swing up to the balcony by releasing the locking mechanism. It may provide the quickest route to engage any assassins there.
- Guests: Fleeing and cowering guests will hinder movement, reducing a PC’s movement by half. Guests may also hinder a PC from being able to adequately engage an assassin by providing cover and concealment. An assassin who is still disguised as a guest will gain a surprise attack on unsuspecting PCs.
- Refreshment Tables: The refreshment tables are very sturdy and may be used for cover from the assassins with crossbows upon the balcony. However, a combatant standing upon a table and is in melee with an enemy who is on the floor gains combat advantages for being on higher ground.
- Stairs: A combatant standing on the stairs and is in melee with an enemy who is at a lower position on the stairs or is on the floor gains combat advantages for being on higher ground.
- Windows: A combatant may rush an enemy and push them through a window. If the attack is successful and the target fails to react quickly, he is thrown from the window and falls down the cliff face to his death.
Development
The encounter begins when a guest screams as the assassin brandishes his dagger and attempts to stab the nobleman (who may or may not avoid the attack). Once the guest screams the PCs are able to close with the initial assassin within seconds and combat begins. The guests begin to panic and flee or cower as the ballroom erupts into chaos.
Awards, Findings, & Treasure
If the PCs are able to kill or capture the assassins they may recover their equipment. Whether or not these are magical or otherwise worth more than ordinary versions is left to the Game Master. If the PCs manage to capture an assassin alive, then they may be able to discover who hired them and why.
The nobleman awards the PCs with monetary rewards as well as free room and board at a tavern he owns in the city.
Join the forum discussion on this series
Le Danse Perilleux by Nevermet Press is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.nevermetpress.com/contact.
Portraits of a Villain: The Desire
Desirae Turpis, by James Keegan
Written by Michael Brewer
Illustrated by James Keegan
Concept/Archetype: Predator of Noble Men
Keywords: Fantasy, Succubus
Race: Human
Profession: Madam Harlot
Do you know what rules this kingdom? It is not the people, the aristocracy, nor even the king who pretends to dote upon that self-righteous bitch of a queen. No! I’ll tell you what rules this kingdom. Lust! Men and women breathe heavy with desire for that which they cannot have. It occupies their every thought and controls their actions. And, no one but I can provide relief for their burning hearts!!
Background
Known by the social elite simply as The Desire, this woman is a stunning beauty to behold. The Desire’s beauty is easily matched by her cunning, but exceeded only by her ruthlessness. Her influence is legendary, and recognized throughout the entire kingdom as no tavern, inn, merchant house or brothel survives long without paying tribute to her.
The Desire was born Desirae Turpis. She was raised a peasant girl among the families bonded to serfdom on the King’s personal estate. It was a difficult life, but one not without love – now just a fading memory. Shortly after her fourteenth birthday, after turning down multiple advances by a noble’s son, Desirae was accused of stealing wheat from the King’s grain-holds. Her family was banished from the farms, and she was thrown into the stockade without term. Therein, she endured months of humiliation, assault, and worse. Many a night she would be taken and placed into a deep cell, where her accuser and several guards would have their way with her. Imagine the worst.
Then one night she had a vision. The ghostly apparition offered to help her find a way out of her imprisonment. In exchange for her freedom, Diserae opened her heart to the apparition and promised to take it with her into the world. With the oath made, the apparition vanished and Diserae’s heart felt suddenly full and satisfied. She also found that her thoughts were consumed with seeking revenge on all those who had harmed her in the past.
Soon after the vision, she became pregnant and this discovery prompted her jailers to quickly cast her out into the freedom of the streets. Having no place to go, and no family to turn to, the filthy urban streets became her home. To survive, she resorted to begging, thievery, prostitution, and smuggling. Soon the child within her was ready for birth and she sought aid at a local church. The infant died during childbirth and the presiding priest reprimanded her fiercely for having a child out of wedlock, declaring her lust the cause for the child’s death. Having nowhere else to go, Desirae returned to the streets, and a life of selling her body to survive. Now, her heart truly burned with an icy hatred and revenge, and it is said that this was the day her skin turned to the color of chalk.
With her renewed determination, she quickly grew wise to the ways of the streets and know that first she must wrest control of them. Her handler was her first victim, but many others followed suite. She drew power from her inner demon, and in time took the name The Desire to rid herself of all the trappings of her past. Once remade, The Desire continued on her path to conquering the underbelly of society. Her harem grew, as did her reputation. Eventually, through murder, trade, trickery, and deal brokering, The Desire controlled the most extensive network of flesh of any kingdom.
Motivations & Goals
Being abused at the hands of a noble is obviously The Desire’s primary motivation for all her endeavors. While she has obtained a life of extravagance peddling to the fleshly needs of both the aristocracy and common men, luxuries are not important to The Desire.
She uses the riches of gold and flesh as a means to destroy and control men of power. Once The Desire has finished extorting someone, she usually enjoys making a public mockery of them while watching their power, rank, and privilege stripped from their name.
She exists only to inflict pain and humiliation upon the rich and powerful. Indeed, many men under her thumb have willingly submitted themselves to cruel and violent tortures overseen by The Desire. These tortures are usually some form of ritual performed for the goddess of lust and wrath.
The current target of The Desire is the king himself. After failing several times to seduce the king with her courtesans during popular masquerade balls, The Desire has decided she needs to take a more active approach with inducing the king’s fall into temptation.
Organization
The Desire’s organization consists of practically every prostitute and brothel in the kingdom. The women and men in her service are very well taken care of and protected from harm. They are perhaps the one group of people The Desire shows compassion for, though she does not tolerate open defiance. She employs a number of mercenary bodyguards that serve as protectors for members in the organization as well as muscle to deal with clients that owe money or favors. The Desire also has several arrangements with the various assassin and thieves guilds, ensuring members of her organization do not become targets while furnishing opportunities for members of the guilds to ply their trade. While residing in a well protected chateau located on the bluffs outside the city walls, The Desire enjoys a commanding view of the city. And, despite her fearsome reputation, she hosts one the many masquerade balls that are the current rage among the social elite.
Adventure Hooks
- A young street girl asks for aid escaping the city and the clutches of an angered Desire.
- The PCs are invited to a masquerade ball and are mistakenly handed documents containing highly sensitive information on a local lord.
- A PC finds himself framed for the murder of a working girl, earning the attention of law enforcement as well as The Desire.
Combat Tactics
The Desire avoids direct confrontation at all costs, preferring her hired mercenaries to dispose of dangerous aggressors. However, if cornered, The Desire relies on her innate charms to compel men to be more understanding. If that fails, she resorts to sorcery to confuse and delay opponents until help arrives or so she can escape. It is well known by those close to her that The Desire is an accomplished enchantress.
Distributed Workshops: Nevermet Press does not work out the system specific stats for any of our online content. However, in the spirit of crowd sourcing, we do encourage the online community to do so via their own personal gaming blogs, online forums, or other venues. If you are interested in creating stats for any of our content using your favorite game system, please do! If you link to us, we’ll return the favor as well!
The independently developed statblocks and other mechanics for The Desire are available from these other sites:
The Desire by Nevermet Press is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.nevermetpress.com/contact.
